How did it get to be "OK" for people to be late for everything?

It's not Ok.
 
I'm punctual. If I say 7 o'clock I know it lasts for one minute
and much like the laws about speedometers (3% +- margin of error)
I try to live by that.
 
It use to burn my ass when I'd go to band practice and have to wait
30 minutes on somebody as if my 30 minutes of life didn't mean anything...well
they found out it meant I could live that 30 min and all the rest just fine without
their BS.

I think it's great.  It makes it easy to know who you should be dealing with (i.e., those that ARE on time).
 
As for the guy delaying the interview, I'd tell him the interview has been postponed and, if he asks until when, I'd say "I'll get back to you on that."

It isn't and I ain't. Too old to change. I may be in a hurry but I am seldom late... if I am I call and let someone know. I think it is called manners. It comes from discipline and brother... I got plenty of that growing up, LOL.
 
J

If that guy had, unfortunately, been coming to see me for a job and arrived demonstrably late, smoking a ciggie and talking on his cell phone...he would have received the rare treat of a meeting with "The Dark Prince" (an extremely rare occurance and nickname above my office door)and would've been, if not scarred for life, at least terrified for the rest of the day.  No foolin.

Sorry I'm late.  What are we talking about? 

Man, I was going to post about something similar!!!



Friends who've lived here in Vegas for a while told us that it was practically a cultural thing here… Back home, I can certainly tell you that I do see that younger people don't care much. Here, it doesn't seem to be a matter of generation.
 
First time I noticed was w/ our landscaping guy, Pedro. In his 40s. Referred by the landlord. We'd scheduled a meeting with him, he didn't show up in the morning as expected and called us at the end of the day - like 12 hours later - to ask if the next day would work. Next day he arrived late - by 6 hours.
 
He was just as late each of the following times. In fact, the last job we gave him, he finished w/ a cumulated 5 days delay because he was late by 3 days for the initial meeting with us and then late again by 2 days to show up and do the job.
 
Then there's our landlord's maintenance guy. Almost 60. He was supposed to fix the stove and a few other little things the week after we moved in, March 22nd. We finally got ahold of him at the end of September, after a dinner w/ our landlord.

He arrived one hour late, fixed the faucet, ordered the stove part that needed. Said he'd be back the next day - 45 minutes late, replaced a filter in the AC vent. The stove part that needs to be replaced had not arrived yet - he said he'd be in touch with us w/in a day our two. It's been over a month. No news. 
 
Recently, I've been trying to get rid of a few things we'd bought for the house before we moved in and realized that we wouldn't need them. Instead of having them sitting there in their box in the garage, we might as well get rid of them.
 
So this lady writes, asks about the microwave, we agree on the price, she tells me she'll be here the following day, around one. At 5-ish the next day, she e-mails me - she got sidetracked. Excuse me?!!! Sidetracked? - We set another appointment the next day… Same BS. Don't know her age - but I'd be tempted to imagine that a married lady called Barbara probably isn't all that likely to be 20...
 
Last week, same thing with a guy who wanted the treadmill… The guy seems to be in his 40-50s. We agreed to get in touch the next day - he postponed by 5 hours. We then agreed for a rendez-vous the next day - he wrote and said he couldn't show up.
 
In fact, the only "customer" who's been on time this far was a guy from North Carolina. A musician at that - he bought my Marshall AVT which I wasn't using. 
 

Yup... good posts here.
 
I too run a business and have done so for 22 years. When I make an appointment with a customer for a specific time.... I'm either there 10 minutes early or if I'm late even by 5 minutes, I'm on my cell phone calling to let them know I'm running late and should be there shortly.  In all those years I think I have only "forgotten" one or two appointments. I had made it a few days earlier and had neglected to look at the calender that morning thinking instead about the job I knew I had....
 
I've not had too many employees, preferring instead to work alone. However, out of the 2 I did hire during one large project one guy was a pain.... I fired him at the end of the second week. Sloppy work, give a #### attitude, found him not working more than I found him working when I gave him something to do. Since I was 4 hrs out of town and the job needed to be done.... I simply told him to go set in the break-room at the facility and not wander around the halls, stay out of trouble and out of my way. Then he got upset and threatened to call the police on me when I fired him because I wouldn't pay him then and there. BTW, he lied to me to get the job. In the security business in NC you must have a clean criminal history. So the first question I asked everyone I was interviewing.... "Have you ever been arrested for anything?"  sounds pretty simple. He said no. The state board found an arrest and sent me a letter to terminate him immediately. That letter was waiting when I returned home so even if he had been a good worker, he could not have worked in this business. 
 
One example of what I dealt with daily from him: I put him in a room, with the job of running some conduit across a kitchen ceiling and down to a box. I bent and installed the first "tricky" bend for him. I chalked a straight line for the next two STRAIGHT pieces of conduit, and left him to it after I explained what I needed done.  This was at 8am.  9am came and I figured he should be coming looking me soon to ask what I needed next..... 10am came and went.... I resisted the urge to go and see what he was up to.  At 11am... a full 3 hrs later, still no sign of him.... so I went to the kitchen. I looked through the window in the door and he was standing there looking at the ceiling which had two straight pieces of conduit with one hanging from the coupling..... I walked in and asked what's taking so long.  He replies that this is hard work. I told him he should have been done in 20 minutes and it's been 3 hrs.... he says no way.... I climb up the ladder and finish the job in 5 minutes connecting the final pipe and bending it down to the box and mounting the box.  That was Wed of the second week. That was when I told him to simply go somewhere and set down and stay out of my way while I finished the job by myself.
 
I have seen the attitude of people not caring, and working slow because, in their own words, "I'm paid to work at this speed, if you want me to work faster, pay me more." I heard this a lot when I was a supervisor in a plant. I managed 45 people in a weaving room in a factory. It was a union shop and they refused to work faster and defied anyone to tell them they had to work faster.
 
That's not how I was raised. I was raised and taught to work hard regardless of the pay or the job. Always do the job the best you can. Be on time and be nice to the people you meet and work with. Say Yes/No Sir and Yes/No Mame and Thank you. And smile.

Herb, Sounds like we have dealt with the same morons and also share many of the same values we were both raised with.  Unfortunately, I think largely these values will all but die off as our generation ages.  I hope I am wrong on that but I doubt it.

http://www.ranker.com/list/notable-and-famous-punctuality-quotes/reference
 
 

Yeah, people who are habitually late are a pet peeve of mine whether it be work or socially related. It's a complete lack of respect for the person who is waiting for them. Even more inexcusable given that most everyone has a phone in their pocket these days is the failure to inform the person waiting for them of their pending lateness.
 
 

Sorry I'm late. At 2AM I set my clock back an hour like they said to, Then at 2AM I set my clock back an hour like they said to. Then at 2AM I set my clock back an hour like they said to. Then at 2AM I set my clock back an hou...
 
(HELP! I'M TRAPPED IN SOME KIND OF EVIL TIME LOOP!)

ChuckC
Herb, Sounds like we have dealt with the same morons and also share many of the same values we were both raised with.  Unfortunately, I think largely these values will all but die off as our generation ages.  I hope I am wrong on that but I doubt it.

 
I kind of dreaded the arrival of the "teen years" with my 2 girls.... the entire getting them out of bed in the mornings to get ready for school. However, I don't recall... not even once, having to go and get them up. We gave them both alarm clocks and told them it was their RESPONSIBILITY to get up on time and get ready for school.

Guitarhacker
 
I kind of dreaded the arrival of the "teen years" with my 2 girls.... the entire getting them out of bed in the mornings to get ready for school. However, I don't recall... not even once, having to go and get them up. We gave them both alarm clocks and told them it was their RESPONSIBILITY to get up on time and get ready for school.

...whilst yo'all slept in, no doubt. Totally unfair! 

Hi,
 
I would start the interview by saying that you are late, and your ability to get a job in this company just dropped 75%, and now you have to convince me if you want a job or not.
 
Btw, I would not include this interview in your unemployment attempts because your being late and uninterested will be noted!
 
Anything else?
 
Thank you!
 
When I managed the restaurants, I only did interviews between 2-4PM and if someone stopped by during lunch time and ropped a resume, it went into the trash. I asked about that to the Employment Office, and they said it was ok. Leaving a resume, or application on a desk is not considered an interview or attempt!