

Sick of This Text: 'Sorry I'm Late'  - cwan
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703859204575526471179963214.html?mod=WSJ_hps_editorsPicks_1

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msluyter
The flipside, imho, is that it's simply less of a big deal to be late,
precisely because technology makes it less problematic. 20 years ago, if
someone was late for, say, a dinner date, you'd be faced with the unpleasant
choice of having to leave and reschedule, or wait, not knowing if they'll ever
show. Now you can simply text each other. The decision point comes earlier.

YMMV, but my circle seems to simply be generally more flexible about time.
That may be considered rude to some, and rude by standards of 20 years ago,
but as long as everyone is generally on board, it's not a problem. In fact,
it's more flexible and arguably efficient (I'm thinking of just in time
inventory). I'm wondering if we're simply witnessing a generational shift
here. (Full disclosure, I'm in my 40's).

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_delirium
This is definitely true for me, though it varies based on the situation. I do
find it somewhat rude/annoying to wait for people when meeting at a
restaurant, mostly because it's somewhat awkward to wait. But if we're meeting
at a coffee shop, I don't really care if they come on time or 30 mins late; I
have plenty of stuff I can do in the meantime.

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makmanalp
>> Now, thanks to cellphones, BlackBerrys and other gadgets, too many of us
have become blasé about being late. We have so many ways to relay a message
that we're going to be tardy that we no longer feel guilty about it.

Poppycock. It's in your hands to determine whether it's okay for the other
person to be late, messages or not. If you've been waiting for over 30
minutes, leave and tell your partner that you've done so through your
"gadget".

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Timothee
_leave and tell your partner that you've done so through your "gadget"._

Or, for repeat offenders: leave and don't tell. They'll figure it out when
they get there... (passive-aggressive? surely)

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etruong42
I prefer not to step on toes so strongly, so I would be diplomatic and say
something along the lines of "I did not anticipate dinner taking so long, so I
cannot stay."

Variations include "I am on a tight schedule. I'm sorry but 20 minutes in
without even ordering is too much." If texting, I have found word choice to be
crucial in delivering how upset you are since there is no tone of voice.

Inclusion of an actual reason and/or "maybe next time" is completely optional.

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bugsy
It really seems like the author of that article has brought it upon herself
because she continues to tolerate it, and does it herself on occasion.

The rule is wait 15 minutes and then leave. After a couple such incidents,
then you flip the flakey bit, and stop agreeing to meet that person one on one
such as at restaurants or for day trips.

It's still OK invite flakies to parties or group gatherings where it doesn't
matter if they show up or not.

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nathanb
I am obsessively punctual, and I find that I only very rarely have to send the
"sorry, I'm late" text. Much like the poor woman at the end of the article, I
view it as a respect issue. It's not difficult to be on time so long as I
leave at a reasonable time. For the common case (no problems) I can take a
leisurely drive at a safe speed (see article
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20190187> about driving fast). If I do
encounter an unplanned delay, there's enough slack in the schedule that I can
usually make up the time and still be punctual.

I am also aware of the time and place, so if I know I will be driving east on
I-40 at rush hour I will need to bake an extra 5-10 minutes into my schedule.

I don't do this to make myself look good, I do it because I respect the other
person and would like to be treated the same when the other person is meeting
me somewhere.

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ciupicri
> Some people were raised in cultures where tardiness is tolerated.

Some European countries have the academic quarter[1] which basically means
that it's ok to be 15 minutes late.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_quarter_%28class_timin...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_quarter_%28class_timing%29)

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kjksf
Academic quarter is for teachers, not students.

It's not ok for students to be late to class even 1 minute.

15 minutes is the amount of time that students must wait for a teacher to
arrive before they can assume that a class has been cancelled and disband.

This is not about tolerating tardiness but a rule that clarifies what happens
when a teacher doesn't arrive to teach the class in a timely manner.

It's also not something that happens often. It's a rule for contingency
planning and not a rule to promote a standard of teacher tardiness.

At least in Poland.

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ardit33
maybe he ment the 'Mediterranean Time'. Lets meet at 2, usually means around
2:10 2:15, or whatever. This will be done in 30 mins, means 45, 1hr, etc.

Just the nature of the cultures, where they take it chill, drink a lot of
coffee, and never rush for things, work to live, not live to work. Maybe
that's why they have lower GDPs compared to the northern ones.

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maw
Where I live (not along the Mediterranean) a dinner invitation for 8 means
people starting to arrive at 9:45. An appointment with the dentist, half an
hour away, at 11 means leaving at 11:05.

To say more is to be horribly politically incorrect.

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dmm
> At 8:05, as I arrived at the restaurant,

They were both late.

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Tichy
Was it necessary to write an article in WSJ about this, and style it to be a
nation wide phenomenon? If your friends being late annoys you, tell them, or
stop meeting them.

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siruva07
I think Glympse is trying to solve this problem <http://www.glympse.com/>

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kscaldef
That seems like just another enabler for people. "Hey, I'm late, but you can
track me in real time!"

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dkasper
"Her husband says she has "T.E.D."—Time Estimation Disorder."

That's kind of an unfortunate acronym for TED conferences.

~~~
sp332
Sebastian Wernicke gave a TED talk on what makes the most popular TED talks.
It turns out the most "favorited" talks on the TED website are the longest
ones. So it's a valid point either way :-)
[http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/lies_damned_lies_and_stati...](http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/lies_damned_lies_and_statistics_about_tedtalks.html)

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balding_n_tired
Washn't this posted from the original blog already?

