To be 1 minute late?

Did you make it on time, OP?
Which bus did you end up getting?
I’m invested and need closure 😀
Hope it went well!

@liladough Not sure if you meant me as "the NHS worker who hates people being 5 minutes late"? I don't hate it, but I was trying to make the point from the other side of the healthcare professional that being late causes issues for the patient, professional, and the service. No one wins. So I struggle to understand why anyone would contemplate knowingly risk being late!

Hope your appointment goes well :)

Well your DS's Scout leader was wrong. If you're on time you're on time. What other false things did this leader tell the Scouts?!

@SabreIsMyFave We-ell,it depends on what the thing is. I can see where the Scout leader is coming from.

Sometimes an activity (or job) might start at a specific time but you need to arrive a little bit earlier than that to be ready to start at the given time

As an example, suppose the activity is something like an orchestra or band practice. If the practice starts at 7:30pm, say, you really need to arrive well before that so you have time to get your coat off, take your instrument out of its case and assemble it, put up your music stand, find your music, warm up etc. If the conductor wants to be "baton down" at 7:30 then everyone needs to be in their seats ready to start. People who think it is OK to just stroll in on the dot of 7:30 not only miss the start but can ge very disruptive.

See, I’m more getting the vibe that OP is from the fancy end of town and is convinced that she will die/catch the poors from going to the other side

Surely there is a waiting room of some sort, why would you be hanging around outside ?

Is this a magic bus that takes you straight to the reception area?

You’re absolutely ridiculous to think everything will run to time so of course you need to get the earlier one! Honestly! The level of stupid on here sometimes is mind blowing! What planet are you on?!?

If its that important to you id be getting a bus before the one that gets there at 3.01 tbh.

Agree. That's a manager trying to micromanage. Being late for a one-off NHS appt is different. Understand the OP's concerns re the rough area (some PPs are brushing it off: OP is familiar with the area!) and not knowing if there's anywhere to wait (I suppose some places still have the 'you can't come in until 5minutes before your time' covid hangover) (my dentist did til about last year), but you have to allow for check-in and anything going wrong (round here some buses just get missed). OP I would call them and ask them if they have a waiting area. Even if they don't, you can't just buzz up at the appt time :-)

Re those saying take a book/game to prep for the wait: OP is worried she'll be outside in a rough area, so being distracted by her phone would not be a good thing...

The earlier bus gets you there 20mins earlier?

That's the one I'd always get. Even if the later bus arrives exactly on time, you're not going to teleport to the hospital reception so you've got to factor in the walk from the bus to the reception desk. As well as a late bus or one too many red lights.

Why don't you phone them and ask, or warn that you might be a couple of minutes late and see what they say?

In my experience these things rarely run on time, but then buses don't either, so I'd be getting the earlier bus.

Is a taxi an option - if not all the way, part of the way? Get the bus to somewhere safe, e.g. nearest shopping centre and get a taxi from there to the facility?

If it was a train you would be there before it departed.

Same with a flight, or even the cinema. If the appointment is important to you, then you would just make the effort to be there regardless of the bus times.

If the appointment isn't that important to you, then you will be more concerned about being inconvenienced by the wait.

So, clearly the appointment isn't that important as the bus time is more important to you than whatever is taking place at the appointment.

But even if you can see on the live tracker that it’s not running late before you get on, it could still get held up and be late after you get on!

Hope you replied “I call it 5 minutes early”

That would make too much sense 😉

OP I'm a lateness/transport efficiency fiend (not heinous like 20 mins late for friends but always 3 minutes late to everything), and even I, who hates waiting around at my destination, would take the early bus. second the above point about a thermos of coffee (or even a jam jar with a loose lid) and a book, ask to be let in when you arrive.

Does your bus company have a live tracker? I was reliant on the bus to get to antenatal appointments for a while and found the tracker really useful for narrowing down the timings. The route was long enough that I could already see that the one before was running 20 mins late, for example, and adjust my leaving time accordingly.

You’re really living on the edge 😂 I’d probably arrive around 2.30 for a 3.20 appointment and then be annoyed with myself for being so early. But seriously, I’d calculate another 5 minutes to get from the bus to the building I need to be in, and I would arrive 10 minutes before the appointment time. Not to mention that the bus can be late.

Which area is this located in?! It sounds like inner city Detroit! A cafe where you have to be buzzed in?! I've never heard of such a thing. ...

It's 3pn in April, not 5pm in December or Jan. It'll be light at that time and will be for ages. Like another I'd be on the 3pm one or the one before it and get there at least 20 mins early. You can guarantee if you were late (even just that minute that, by the time you got inside and found your room would be at least 5 minutes) they'd be running early or on time.

Go with a coffee or drink alongside a book, magazine an/or podcast/fully charged phone or similar and wait and relish the time to yourself. You will be OK d be inside somewhere. If its that small a practice, they're more likely to be running to time than a larger hospital waiting room as there'll be less people. All it takes is one or two not to turn up to affect timings.

Most people moan and leave reviews when unhappy too and don't when happy so if course there's more mentions of things running behind.

I’d be taking the 1441 🙈

Early bus and prep for the wait - download an audiobook or new game to your phone or get off little early and give yourself a 10 minute walk.

Why not wait in the waiting room?

Early bus 20 mins is a short time to wait I really wouldn't risk it and being late the NHS won't like either

Correct. No-one did. That is why the OP isn't quoting the post saying it.