To get irrationally irritated by waiting for latecomers when I’ve made the effort to be on time?

Tbh in my job it’s fairly standard for people to be late for meetings if the meeting they were at before overran and yes, was more important and I don’t care if someone’s under the misguided impression their time is equally important in that context. If the next meeting is more important, I’ll leave the first one in time to get to the next time (even if it’s not actually finished). I always turn up on time to school things (because I’m able to organise my calendar to do so) but I don’t mind at all if they start late to allow for some latecoming - I don’t see it as my time being disrespected, just a bit of understanding that it’s generally a weeknight immediately after most people finish work, and it’s just good luck on my part on the evenings I’m able to be one of the ones to get there a bit early and sit and people watch with a coffee.

Yanbu

Occasionally things cant be helped. Major accident. Family emergency etc but don't act like morning school run traffic is a surprise.

Instead of calling people uptight think about how much effort they may have made to get their on time or the expense and inconvenience involved to ensure they were on time. For every person who walks in late due to poor planning and no sense of urgency there's someone else who got up stupidly early , to take the kids elsewhere, grandparents who had to have the kids longer than usual, the extra expense of a babysitter/extra nursery hours/day, a taxi instead of a bus to ensure no delays etc

People have every right to be a bit miffed if it then turns out they could have had an extra hour in bed or gotten a bus or a lift after all.

Its rude to assume everyone else finds it easy and it's not an expense or inconvenience to get somewhere. And of course you expect them to incurred the costs/inconvenience all over again because they can't finish on time due to late comers. Maybe people should be billed for the costs to others of their lateness.

This is one of the issues for our managers, wall to wall meetings in their calendars. Being on time could be a real challenge for them as a result. When setting up meetings we could see their availability and would book slots in between other meetings.

the last few companies i have worked for have a standard for this: there are no 30 minute or 60 minute meetings, they are 25 minutes or 50/55 minutes. To allow toilet breaks and movement between meetings. Everyone who receives a meeting that butts up against a meeting they already have are encouraged (robustly) to request a time change to make sure these 5/10 minute gaps are kept. (and also to put a blocker in their calendar for 1~2 blocks of time per day to , you know, work.

Your apology is pretty meaningless though isn't it, because you are literally doing it on purpose.

You're so entitled. Unbelievable.

Also, my only gripe when people walk in with a coffee is where’s mine?

You’ve just reminded me that we went to a televised ‘thing’ in Rome once and were told to be in hour seats at 7.30. At 9pm everyone was still wandering around, chatting and smoking, the chap sitting next to us explained that this is Rome and timekeeping is not important to anyone. I love that attitude, we will do it when we’re ready.

Obviously you have to be more organised when trying to fit in lots of meetings but I can’t imagine getting worked up by people being late - and before anyone says it, I’m not a habitually late person. I’m usually the one starting meetings but I can’t imagine getting worked up about people being late.

It's not ok to be late to a dinner party when the host is cooking for you.

Yes!!! How do they have the nerve?! A clear signal they had enough time to queue in Costa but not to get there on time. So cheeky! And rude!

YANBU. With the exception of genuinely good reasons, tardiness is plain rude.

Yabu, As someone who organises events you can never please everyone, no matter what you take into consideration it’s always “difficult” for some

I start on time as the class I teach would mean children missing out on a vital lesson that their parents paid for. The nature of the activity means that latecomers cannot join the activity, so they must turn around and go home with Mum or Dad. Most people are only late once.

Ds's sports presentation was 6pm on Saturday... Still waiting as the coach downed his 5th pint at 7. 25.. Dh was all for leaving.. We got the prize and a photo then left...

🤣 You sound great.

I think you might need the relaxation bit more than the extra 10 minutes of work to be honest 😉

I’m amazed that building in buffer time in the calendar isn’t a thing for most people. It’s always been a standard technique taught on Time Management events.

YANBU!

@Hazeby What if... the people everyone is waiting for are only late because their previous appointment ran on, due to "let's wait 10 minutes for latecomers"!?

This is one of the issues for our managers, wall to wall meetings in their calendars. Being on time could be a real challenge for them as a result. When setting up meetings we could see their availability and would book slots in between other meetings.

Then I glimpsed the calendar of one of our senior managers and for most major meetings she would block out 10-15 minutes preparation time for meetings in her calendar so that no one could book the slot immediately before major meetings. Usually what the appointment is isn't visible but I had visibility of them for some reason.

Game changer. If I have a big meeting I now book out the time slot beforehand. Then I have time to get a cuppa, go to the loo, open up relevant documents etc, etc. I am now on time and PREPARED!

And if a day so starting to get busy with meetings (although not really a problem in my current role) I also make sure I book in my lunch time.

I guess the waiting a few mins for latecomers is to stop them being interrupted when they start saying what they need to say. But I agree with you, it is annoying when people can't turn up on time, especially when you end up hearing the same info twice.

But @Wantitalltogoaway clearly everyone else in the class is a lowly pleb who does not have a BIG IMPORTANT JOB and cannot comprehend how important it is that @KarmenPQZ spends that 5 mins at her desk rather than bothering her arse to be at class on time.

Neither can I. I can’t imagine doing something deliberately that I knew to be rude and STILL doing it.

The people in the yoga class trying to relax and who’ve paid to attend must be so fuming at you every single week.

Why are you apologising? You don't mean it, and you don't plan to stop doing it.
You think 5 mins of your work time is so much more important than being rude and constantly, purposely late. I honestly can't believe your twattery.

When i am holding a meeting or delivering training - i close the door to the room we're in and do not let anyone in who arrives after i have started. I expect them to be ready to start when the meeting is scheduled to start.

For sure a genuine emergency will be ok, but if they can't be bothered to be on time, they don't get the benefit of my expertise.

I'm autistic and can't stand being late, and as such are usually ridiculously early, but even I couldn't manage to get from one end of our large office to the other in the less than 30 seconds I had between meetings ( they're online now which is much easier). I only had this problem once a week but suddenly realised why my boss could never be on time ( he had a lot more meetings).

It depends on your sector as to what is acceptable- I work in HE, meetings are held which will always clash with someone’s teaching. The students come first, no-one is going to cut short their seminar or tell a student they are “too busy to talk” to get to a meeting so people join (physically or on Teams) when they can. Being punitive wouldn’t get you anywhere as people aren’t late for the fun of it, they are prioritising other things.