brissybee

I'm going to apologize in advance. I am one of those people who is always late. I try really hard to be on time but I always try to do more than I have time for and end up not being on time.

I've been told I might get away with this in Australia... but it will be regarded as very rude in the UK.

Is it true that being late is more frowned on in the UK than in Australia?

Mummy in the foothills

It is rude, I had friends in the US who managed to get away with it. Not sure how it is perceived here really. I'm usually 5 or 10 mins early. It's something you can work on and improve if you really want to.
I have to say I found people who wander in late and act like nothing happened to come across like their time is more important than mine. Maybe you could just write all appointments down on your calendar as 15 minutes earlier than you need to give you a little time to work with, something to aim for. Some places if are a little late they cancel your appointment. Ds was just over 5 mins late for his job centre appointment for his NIN, he got lost on the way there and they told him Oh well, not our problem and he had to get another appointment day sent to him.
Ds says in his office everyone is on flex time, so anyone arriving after start time, just adds it on the end of the day.

Harvester523

I think it's quite rude too. I don't know how it translates to other nationalities, but bearing in mind we're in France, we invited a couple, Danish and Jamaican for Christmas lunch one year. We made the mistake of saying "come anytime" and they arrived at 3pm. Of course we fed them, but it was a little strange, considering that "lunch" in France is midday!
I hate being late (or early!) and will do my utmost to be somewhere on time.

dunroving

I have a colleague who always arrives to meetings 10-15 minutes late and it drives people nuts (definitely perceived as a problem!)

The more annoying thing for me, though, is that the meeting start is usually delayed until she arrives! That's almost a UK "politeness" thing, it drives me bonkers - if it's supposed to be a 1:00 start, then it should start at 1:00!

aries

I suppose to prevent being late, begin to get ready earlier, or have your clock or watch fast. Being late in either country is aggravating and impolite.

bourbon-biscuit

It's rude. Being consistently late is consistently rating other people's time priorities as lower than your own. In a culture where the expectation is that everyone is flexible about time, that's fine, but in Britain time has more urgency and you will piss people off if you consistently disregard their time priorities.

My husband struggles with being on time - partly because his frightfully upper-middle class family seem to think whatever they think or do is somehow a higher priority that anyone else, and partly because his parents lived in Africa for a decade. I have noticed he almost always underestimates how long things will take, like driving places. So, he thinks of the journey from where we live to our nearest rellies as an hour (drive time is actually 1hr10mins) and if we have to be there at noon he thinks of that as between 12 and 1 and therefore thinks departure time should be about 11-12. He makes no account for preparation time - he has to be talked through the process to think about how long to pack the car, round up the kids, get himself ready, allow for traffic etc, and what is actually meant by 'noon'. He's been working on this for years and has made some improvement. Funnily enough if a tennis tournament is starting at x time he will make damned sure he gets there for x, even though he'll be running about like a loon to get ready, will abandon something he should be doing and will speed to get there and arrive ill prepared. So he can do it. Consistent tardiness is a form of arrogance, and is perceived that way by a lot of people.

quoll

Drives me nuts! I'm a pathologically on time (or early) person. My daughter in law is an absolute shocker - she is never only minutes late, she is more likely hours (and on occasion) days late for things. My son, her partner, never wears a watch but if you agree to meet at 14.37 he will be there at 14.37 not 14.36 or 14.38. I think she drives him nuts too. My mother can give the DiL a run for her money though but she has dementia and no sense of social responsibility.

brissybee

Oops...

I'm pleased to receive these honest responses. I've never thought of the idea that it might appear that I think my time is more important.

It's more of a case of me being disorganised with my time and getting stressed about being rushed... but it does look like I'll have to lift my game in this area.

TheCreature

Pet hate of mine. Drives me bonkers. I'm ALWAYS early, so early that I regularly have to wait outside where I'm going until closer to the time.

chris955

We would always tell our friends in Australia to be at our place or wherever at least 30-45 minutes before the actual time and they would usually still be late

aries

So how do people who are constantly late in their everyday lives manage to be on time for trains and planes? Or are these the ones we see in TV airport shows trying to persuade staff to let them on the planes after gates have been closed?

chris955

Yes it does make you wonder doesnt it?

Cheetah7

Lots of people in my office rock up late but then they finish late. I am a stickler for time keeping and also find it rude. In my last job in the UK, it was frowned upon. One girl got an official warning for always being 5-10 mins late every morning. HR told her to set her alarm for 30 mins earlier, it didnt work and she got her warning.

Might be worth looking in to a time management course - I have heard some of them are quite good but that was in the UK, not sure about in Australia prior to you leaving. But either way, I would make it a priority to be on time and start now and not leave it until you get to the UK to get into the good habit of punctual time keeping.

lgabriel73

Living in the US I find that it is more acceptable to be late for everything and it drives me insane. Where I work we never have a meeting that starts on time and people don't even seem to apologize for holding others up. As a brit I am usually early to everything and I will never change. Even in social situations I find that people are always late in the US. When my friends say they will be there at 8pm I always know that they won't arrive until 8:15 at the earliest. Drives me nuts!! I personally think that being on time is a respect thing.

eddie007

Being is late is absolutely fine... SO LONG AS IT DOESNT IMPACT ON ANYONE ELSE IN ANY WAY....

Otherwise it may be interpreted as a sign of rudeness, arrogance, disrespect, carelessness, disorganization, unreliability and total lack of courtesy for others.....

Punctuality is the Politeness of Princes....


I have a pathological fear of being late.