This week's Friday Five were about tardiness and its opposite number, timeliness (on-timeliness?). In my prime, I was never the Queen of On Time ... but I was also not the worst, and I've gotten better with age. For more, see below.
Ready?
1. What is usually the cause of your being late for something?
Traffic... which, I guess, means leaving my house too late, since one should always allow extra time for traffic.
2. How has your punctuality changed with the seasons of your life?
I am more punctual now. And why wouldn't I be? I'm old enough to have suffered enough of the negative consequences of lateness to have learned my lesson about it. Also, and this is the more significant reason, all my kids are grown and can no longer slow me down.
Perhaps here is the place to address that oft-quoted saying, "Early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable." I agree that late is unacceptable, though of course grace should be extended to the latecomer as much as makes sense. But "on time" has always been on time enough for me.
Note: Since I am often on the program at events I attend, my "on time" is generally "early" for the audience, but I don't go overboard. If, for instance, I have a 6:30 call for a 7:00 event, I feel plenty on time if I arrive at my post (ready to go) at 6:28.
3. What is something you are pretty much never late for?
A movie, concert, or the theatre. In the old days, latecomers weren't seated till intermission, which is 100% the way it still should be. I also won't be late to a ball game. Even though arriving after the start of things isn't so disruptive at a stadium, it's still the case that -- as with a play, movie, or concert -- if you didn't see the whole thing, then you didn't see it.
I'm also never late to church, though I'll cop to one or two close calls over the years. A late organist, see, is an unemployed one. [Wait, isn't that true for teachers, as well? Umm, more or less, but a college teacher can be held up by traffic, say, and if it doesn't happen too often, the consequences aren't dire. (Ask me how I know this.)]
4. What are you behind on right now?
Grading papers. There are ALWAYS ungraded papers. Also, checking work emails. There are ALWAYS unread emails.
Also, a Sherlockian talk I am giving in slightly less than two weeks. Not only is it not finished, but I haven't begun writing it yet.
5. Who among your friends and family can most be relied upon to be on time? Who can most be relied upon to be tardy?
Most of my friends and family are timely people. That said, Number Two Son -- the one with two children -- is often running behind. Good thing that, due to our small car sizes, it's seldom possible to ride with him to events the whole gang is attending.