To be 1 minute late?

[liladough]

What would you do?

I have an appointment tomorrow at a healthcare facility. It’s an NHS appointment but at a private contractor. I have waited 6 months for this appointment.

I have to get the bus there, it’s an hour long journey (just one bus). The appointment is at 3:20.

I can either get the bus that gets there at 3:01, or get the bus that gets there at 3:21. I don’t want to be waiting outside for twenty minutes as it’s a really dodgy area, they have a cage on their door and you have to buzz up, just for context. There’s no where within a 5 minute walk I can go to get a coffee. Judging by their reviews I would have to wait quite a while to get seen anyway. So if I have to wait 30 minutes to be seen, that’s nearly an hour of waiting in there which would quite frankly do my head in.

On the other side, what if I get the bus that gets there at 3:21? Can I risk that the bus would actually get there for that time and not say 15-20 minutes late? What if I get there at 3:21 and they say sorry you’re late, we can’t see you, try again in 6 months.

YABU = 3:01 Bus
YANBU = 3:21 Bus

20 min wait is nothing. Bet we’ve all spent way longer than that on MN today 😄

To answer more questions
Yes I am an adult. I’m 20. My mum said to get the 3:21 bus whilst I thought 3:01 would better, hence asking for advice

Re, the nhs worker who hates people being 5 minutes late. I’ve read the reviews for this place where people state they wait after their appointment time to be seen so I thought getting their 20 minutes early was a bit overkill

You were being unreasonable but I see you have come to your senses!

I have a similar issue with my dentist but the buses to it are only once every hour. Now when I book appointments I do it with the bus timetable in mind.

Surely they have a waiting area INSIDE? It's not Covid times now. People are not made to wait outside!

You’re right, I’m not going to reveal the location when I have stated the exact time and day I will be there

Ummm, I am pretty sure no-one has asked you to. What a bizarre retort!

Read up because they definitely did when someone accused me of making up this location…

The reviews of people saying they waited is fairly meaningless. You can’t rely on that as they might be running to time, or early.

No they didn’t.

No one asked you to say exactly where it is.

Not worth the risk that the bus won’t be late! Get the earlier one.
(Said as someone who errs on the side of late as I hate being too early but some things are too important to risk).

Quote the exact post. (Where someone asked you to reveal the exact location.)

Could you ring the place, tell them your concerns and check if they'll let you in early just to sit in the waiting room? Just to set your mind at ease?

I've never rung up to check, but have been allowed to sit around in waiting rooms for medical appointments that I needed to "buzz" into the building for.

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

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

Why not wait in the waiting room?

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.

I’d be taking the 1441 🙈

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.

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. ...

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.

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.

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.

That would make too much sense 😉

Hope you replied “I call it 5 minutes early”

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!