“Sorry I’m late.” Are you? If you were really sorry, would you have been late in the first place?
Over the past few days, I’ve heard people make statements like “You know what I hate more than anything?” or “Do you know what annoys me the most about people?” Those statements got me thinking about my biggest pet peeve.
By definition, a pet peeve is an often continual annoyance. We all have them, and most of us inflict them on others.
It was very easy to determine my biggest pet peeve because it’s been my biggest pet peeve for many years. I HATE it when people are late. Now I can understand when people are late every once in awhile. Things happen. Life happens. Sometimes you hit traffic. Sometimes your car won’t start. Sometimes you leave the tickets sitting on the kitchen table and realize it five miles down the road. There are always exception.
However, some people are ALWAYS late. It’s not only a habit, it’s a lifestyle. If you know these people, you know what I’m talking about. These are the people that are supposed to meet you somewhere at 7:00. At 7:15 you call them, and they haven’t left home. What have they been doing? Nothing! They’re just late! You call back at 7:30 and they say they’re on their way, but you can still hear the TV going.
If you are one of these people, you probably know it, and you probably don’t care. People that fit in this category often think the world needs to slow down and have some patience. Time isn’t that big of a factor.
While I do think patience is a needed virtue, I think being continually late is an act of selfishness. Yes, I do. When you are always late, you are telling others that your time is much more valuable than their time. If you make someone wait on you all the time, you essentially say, “I care more about me than I care about you. My life is more important than your life.”
Being on time is a mark of common courtesy. The old saying goes, ”If you are 5 minutes early, you’re on time. If you’re on time, you’re late. If you’re late, then you’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”
I don’t necessarily expect people to be like me and show up for a movie 45 minutes early (I’m working on it) but at least be where you said you would be when you said you would be there.
There’s my soapbox.
What is your biggest pet peeve?