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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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

157 replies

Hazeby · 16/07/2024 08:43

When you’re waiting for something to start, be it a work meeting or presentation or a school event….. “We’ll just give it ten more minutes for any latecomers and then we’ll start…”

NO!!

I may as well turn up ten minutes late myself plus how will these people learn to be on time unless it starts without them. Gives me the rage.

OP posts:
comedycentral · 17/07/2024 11:04

I present often and give a few minutes grace before I start. People arrive late for all sorts of reasons and I find it difficult to get into the flow when people arrive late and audience members feel that distraction too. It's not great for the people in the room but some appreciate that time to grab a coffee, use the facilities or have a chat. I'm an earlier arriver if that helps 😄

comedycentral · 17/07/2024 11:04

I present often and give a few minutes grace before I start. People arrive late for all sorts of reasons and I find it difficult to get into the flow when people arrive late and audience members feel that distraction too. It's not great for the people in the room but some appreciate that time to grab a coffee, use the facilities or have a chat. I'm an earlier arriver if that helps 😄

comedycentral · 17/07/2024 11:11

I present often and give a few minutes grace before I start. People arrive late for all sorts of reasons and I find it difficult to get into the flow when people arrive late and audience members feel that distraction too. It's not great for the people in the room but some appreciate that time to grab a coffee, use the facilities or have a chat. I'm an earlier arriver if that helps 😄

DecoratingDiva · 19/07/2024 19:45

As someone who is habitually early I cannot abide habitual lateness. Yes sometimes someone is held up unavoidably but if a thing is scheduled to start at a given time and most of the audience are there on time then bloody well start on time.

If you anticipate lateness then have a doors at 7 start at 7:15 type thing to give the latecomers a bit of leeway (but I’m not really a fan of this approach)

Bex071509 · 19/07/2024 19:56

Not being unreasonable at all.

why is their time more precious than you. Of course I fully understand shit happens & we can all be late at times, but that’s in rare circumstances!

FunIsland · 19/07/2024 19:59

Badbadbunny · 17/07/2024 09:50

My son’s Uni careers dept had the right idea when they did “mock” job interviews and mock group interviews/group tasks over a few weeks. Students got one slot for each and were told they’d not be admitted if they were late. Students chose their own slots via an online booking system with lots of options and were told to choose dates/times that wouldn’t clash with lectures and which were do-able having regard to transport options etc. Basically no excuses for anyone being late. He said the doors did indeed close at exactly the start time and late students weren’t admitted and couldn’t rebook a future session - they lost out. The sessions started and finished bang on time and there were no interruptions etc. A great learning experience for the late students who missed out and better sessions for the majority who got there on time and didn’t have distractions.

He said he wished they’d done it with lectures and seminars as there was always a steady stream of latecomers disrupting the session, who just casually strolled in when they felt like it!

Edited

You can’t do this because some people have lateness as a reasonable adjustment

FunIsland · 19/07/2024 20:00

DecoratingDiva · 19/07/2024 19:45

As someone who is habitually early I cannot abide habitual lateness. Yes sometimes someone is held up unavoidably but if a thing is scheduled to start at a given time and most of the audience are there on time then bloody well start on time.

If you anticipate lateness then have a doors at 7 start at 7:15 type thing to give the latecomers a bit of leeway (but I’m not really a fan of this approach)

See, you’d annoy me more than a latecomer

C1N1C · 19/07/2024 20:07

Put all the good stuff at the start as an icebreaker. That will show those piss-taking latecomers!

They annoy me too. I'm always on time.

spiderplant56 · 19/07/2024 20:26

I did a college course a few years ago and it was maddening. Was meant to start at 8, so the more mature students were there at 8 if not before.
A few younger ones wouldn't get in till 9 and we would sit and wait for them!!! Pissed me off no end.

DecoratingDiva · 19/07/2024 22:13

FunIsland · 19/07/2024 20:00

See, you’d annoy me more than a latecomer

But if you were the latecomer you wouldn’t know I was early so surely wouldn’t be upset by me 😉 😂😂😂

Itsjustmeheretoday · 20/07/2024 02:05

spiderplant56 · 19/07/2024 20:26

I did a college course a few years ago and it was maddening. Was meant to start at 8, so the more mature students were there at 8 if not before.
A few younger ones wouldn't get in till 9 and we would sit and wait for them!!! Pissed me off no end.

Did you complain? I would have, waiting an hour is ridiculous. I wish people would call people out on this. My DH is notoriously late, people let him get away with it because he is a nice guy! Even at his work he's always late for meetings and they will wait for him. I feel he only does it because he can

Losingthebaggage321 · 20/07/2024 02:22

SwordToFlamethrower · 17/07/2024 09:22

I hate being late!!! Despise! My mother in law has no concept of time and when she is coming to visit us, she regularly misses her coach. She makes us late for any plans we have and she always prioritises herself over anyone else.

She wants a cup of tea first, she needs to do something on her phone etc etc

Yes lateness, or not committing to a time, can be a form of control. Sometimes it’s subconscious, when for example it is connected to severe anxiety, but sometimes it’s more strategic.

CaliforniaChill · 20/07/2024 03:50

Those who say they’re late for whatever reason, can I ask, do you turn up late for doctors, dentist, hair appointments or for a flight?

If you can turn up on time for these, who won’t accommodate you, you can be on time for everything else.

I’m a good time keeper, and if I’m going to be late I’ll call ahead, then apologise.

I’ve a couple of friends/ acquaintances who are always late. One arrived 2 hours after we started dinner, the other arrives 1 hour after coffee/ a movie/ an arranged event has started. Now we just refuse to wait and go in. She can catch us up.

Making people wait for you is rude.

rubyroola · 20/07/2024 04:14

I did a birth course which started at 7pm on a week night, when pregnant with my second. Every f’ing week without fail one woman would turn up late and every week the teacher would wait for her. Sometimes it’d be 7.20pm. When you’re pregnant, shattered from work and want to get home on time it’s extra infuriating. I would look around in annoyance but everyone else seemed unbothered.

I also used to do a gym class at 7am and the knob head teacher would wait for latecomers. Was a 45 min class! I left.

Jo7890123 · 20/07/2024 07:06

I arrive early whenever possible, and allow extra time to avoid being late. What REALLY wound me up was when I missed 10 mins of a school event, because they started early, because 'most people seemed to have arrived'. Several of us were even outside, but assumed it was some earlier session that was finishing in there 😤

FunIsland · 20/07/2024 07:23

DecoratingDiva · 19/07/2024 22:13

But if you were the latecomer you wouldn’t know I was early so surely wouldn’t be upset by me 😉 😂😂😂

I’m not usually a latecomer but if we’ve agreed to meet at a certain time and you turn up early it makes me feel stressed and under pressure to be there early too. It feels hugely demanding and I start off on the back foot.

So if you’re coming to my house I might still be sorting out or getting dressed, if we’re meeting somewhere else and I get a message to say ‘I’m here’ I feel like shit and like I need to hurry up, if it’s a work meeting on teams I get the notification to say you’ve started the meeting when I’m still finishing something else and then I feel obliged to leave the job I’m doing and join you, if it’s face to face and I’m chairing, it means I have no time to set things up.

In conclusion 😉 for me it feel much more demanding and selfish to be early than late.

Thank you for allowing me my rant 🤣

DilemmaDelilah · 20/07/2024 08:37

UABU to think you are being IRRATIONALLY irritated! If I can bother to get there on time, why can't they! It may mean leaving home earlier than usual to make sure I can be on time but that's what I do if I have to.

Training, meetings etc. should always start on time. The only exceptions should be if somebody has been held up through no fault of their own, have already contacted the organiser, and have committed to being there within 5 minutes. Online training/meeting can be recorded and, in my opinion, latecomers should not be pandered to by going over things that have already been discussed. Instead they should go through the recording or ask for clarification at the end, if there is time, or by email. If you turned up late to a live performance you wouldn't expect them to wait for you, or to start again would you? This is just the same, but on a smaller scale.

Not being there on time means less time for questions, discussions etc., there may not be time to discuss the whole agenda, and it's just RUDE!

unframedfire · 20/07/2024 08:43

It is rude to turn up late in the UK culture.

It is disappointing to me as someone who is never late. Obviously unforeseen circumstances like car breaking down, crash on the motorway, helping a little old lady etc these are valid reasons to which I am not dissatisfied with obviously.

I just find it rude as to me as I'm never late even when pregnant, even with 5 children, even when I didn't drive and had to take several busses to get to destinations, even when not feeling great I have and will always make it in time. This is especially stressful and mentally draining as I have ADHD which is not an excuse to be late it just means I have to make even more effort to be there on time and I expect others to do so after all if I can make it why on earth can't they

dottiehens · 20/07/2024 09:28

Depends if this is a one off and justified. Or simple a careless person who is selfish. I tend to just let go friends that are rude like that. Life is too short and your time is a valuable as those of others. Usually they come with other undesirable personality traits so they won’t be missed in my life.

DecoratingDiva · 20/07/2024 09:39

FunIsland · 20/07/2024 07:23

I’m not usually a latecomer but if we’ve agreed to meet at a certain time and you turn up early it makes me feel stressed and under pressure to be there early too. It feels hugely demanding and I start off on the back foot.

So if you’re coming to my house I might still be sorting out or getting dressed, if we’re meeting somewhere else and I get a message to say ‘I’m here’ I feel like shit and like I need to hurry up, if it’s a work meeting on teams I get the notification to say you’ve started the meeting when I’m still finishing something else and then I feel obliged to leave the job I’m doing and join you, if it’s face to face and I’m chairing, it means I have no time to set things up.

In conclusion 😉 for me it feel much more demanding and selfish to be early than late.

Thank you for allowing me my rant 🤣

Oh yes, I absolutely get that and I agree with you 😀

I wouldn’t turn up at your house early because that would be rude & inconsiderate but I would sit in the car parked round the corner for 10min berating myself for being too early 😂

And you are absolutely right about the Teams meeting, they should only be started on time. I don’t mind on other services that don’t send those judgy messages.

I would disagree on the f2f meeting though, if you say 7 I will be outside before 7 ready to come in and start at 7, and if it was a fishtank meeting room I would hide outside! If you need time to prepare set the start time for 7:15.

FunIsland · 20/07/2024 09:47

DecoratingDiva · 20/07/2024 09:39

Oh yes, I absolutely get that and I agree with you 😀

I wouldn’t turn up at your house early because that would be rude & inconsiderate but I would sit in the car parked round the corner for 10min berating myself for being too early 😂

And you are absolutely right about the Teams meeting, they should only be started on time. I don’t mind on other services that don’t send those judgy messages.

I would disagree on the f2f meeting though, if you say 7 I will be outside before 7 ready to come in and start at 7, and if it was a fishtank meeting room I would hide outside! If you need time to prepare set the start time for 7:15.

No I’ll get there 5 -10 mins early to prepare but people don’t wait outside, they come and sit in the room if they see that it’s empty or if you’re in there. I’m not going to kick them out because that would be twatty.

I’ve never known anyone wait outside a room for a meeting, not since school probably!

Whatwouldscullydo · 20/07/2024 09:56

DecoratingDiva · 20/07/2024 09:39

Oh yes, I absolutely get that and I agree with you 😀

I wouldn’t turn up at your house early because that would be rude & inconsiderate but I would sit in the car parked round the corner for 10min berating myself for being too early 😂

And you are absolutely right about the Teams meeting, they should only be started on time. I don’t mind on other services that don’t send those judgy messages.

I would disagree on the f2f meeting though, if you say 7 I will be outside before 7 ready to come in and start at 7, and if it was a fishtank meeting room I would hide outside! If you need time to prepare set the start time for 7:15.

Yes i always kill time the other end too. I'd never show up akd expect to be accommodated ridiculously early.

With regards to people complaining about people being even 5 mins early though, if you had anything more than brushing your teeth putting your shoes on, or logging on to your till/computer and filling up your water bottle, let's face it you clearly weren't ever gonna be on time yourself akd blaming someone for being in the vicinity 5 mins early for making you late is unfair.

FunIsland · 20/07/2024 10:12

If that was in response to me I didn’t say anything about them making me late. But yes, turn up 5 minutes early to my house and I may well be about to brush my teeth or put some make up on, or load the dishwasher and if you’re there early I won’t be able to do that.

I now know they friends who do turn up early and plan to be ready fifteen minutes before the agreed time but it’s as annoying as people who are habitually late who I also put plans in place for. There is no moral superiority in being early in my opinion, it’s equally inconsiderate and places equal demand on other people’s time and mental load.

Fair enough if you’re happy to wait round the corner or wait without comment till the agreed time though.

Whatwouldscullydo · 20/07/2024 10:20

My parents used to do this to me all the time. When ever we had to attend a funeral/wedding/family function etc

They'd tell me a time, remind me constantly in the days leading up to it what time that was, nor to be late etc ( I'm.never late I'm always early I then find somewhere to hide and wait. Buses usually mean u get there early and have ti wait cos the next one would be too late )

So I'd arrive ON TIME or maybe 5 mins early and guess what. They'd not he dressed , not have the car packed, faff fir 15 mins trying to double check triple check quadruple check they had keys, apparently so concerned I'd be late they couldn't concentrate on getting ready. No one else that was meant to be there would be there and some how them.not being ready was my fault.

Except I'd have rushed around getting ready , got the kids to school, called in a favour witg another parent to watch the kids in the play ground so I could leave straight away. Forked out fir a taxi to theor house when I already had monthly bus tickets so more bloody expense. My then partner would have had to have taken the afternoon off work so.lost money too , to pick.the.kids up from school. All so I could be there on time . And all this only to be blamed fir everyone else's lack.of being ready...late people need to just own it and not blame everyone else

Whatwouldscullydo · 20/07/2024 10:24

And of course you can clean.your teeth with someone there. How can someone be ok and safe and known well enough to be invited to your house but you can't clean your teeth. That's ridiculous.

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