Early Bird

I’m always early. To everything.

I get ready far sooner than I need to, resulting in sitting around for half an hour before I need to go out because I’m ready with time to spare. Seriously, there’s nothing to do with that remaining half hour. Because I have nothing to do I leave earlier than I need to, which results in sitting in my car for ten minutes. I never park close enough to things, so I guess it evens out by the fact that I have to walk further to venues than other people just because I don’t like stressful parking situations, which sometimes just involves someone seeing me trying to park which makes me nervous so I do something strange.

I digress.

I don’t mind this punctuality; one of the worst feelings in the world is being rushed, so by being ready early it means if something goes wrong (my hair has been known to take more time than expected) I have the time to deal with it.

If there’s a meeting for ten, I expect it to start at ten. If it’s starting at 10:40 I wonder why they told me to arrive at ten. On the other hand, if I’m meeting a friend who’s ten minutes late I’m not going to get really annoyed. If they were forty minutes late, I would be annoyed. And left wondering if they care about me enough to spend time with me.

Because that’s what it comes down to for me: do you care for me and want to spend that time with me. If someone’s an hour late (without good reason), I’m left wondering why they didn’t want to show up earlier and if they respect the fact that I’ve been waiting for them. Being late isn’t just about the person that’s running late; it’s about the person who’s left waiting.

I’m not trying to offend anyone; being late is pretty normal and accepted these days, and if you’re a bit late I’m not going to mind. It’s the thought behind it and whether or not someone’s time is respected and seen as worth it.

Being late? Do what you want. But make sure the person you’re late for knows you’re thankful for them and thankful that they waited for you.

Also, time doesn’t matter as much to others. Someone else might not mind if you’re an hour late. But to me it’s important. So I guess it’s also knowing your audience and relationship and knowing if it is important to them to try and be five minutes earlier rather than fifteen minutes later. Just because time is such a big thing for me, doesn’t mean it’s big for someone else. So again, I’m not trying to offend or throw shade at anyone. It’s simply what I’ve been thinking as I sit here with half an hour to spare because I’m ready to go out way earlier than need be.

On the plus side, because I decided to blog in my half hour before needing to leave the house, I’m now running late. Which, by my standards, means I’m precisely on time.

Perfect.

Sarah xx