It’s fair to say that everyone in their lifetime has had someone arrive late on them. What I find interesting is the correlation between being late and status roles.
An intern late for their boss can be expected to let them know as soon as possible that they will be late and ensure to be super apologetic upon arrival.
One friend late for another may send a text just before hand or at the meeting time and perhaps a quick apology when the eventually arrive.
A boss late for an intern may not even apologise and the intern will most likely have to simply wait in the meeting room for the boss to arrive.
I don’t think that’s right, I think you need be respectful of everyone’s time, regardless of status. The casual disrespect of other’s time is in my opinion quite rude.
The attitude of ‘Ah it’s only Jeff, he’ll wait for us’ isn’t acceptable.
It’s disrespectful when the only reason for being late is poor time management. If your child had to be rushed to hospital then of course we understand. But simply not being on time because you couldn’t be bothered is very disrespectful. It says my time is more important than yours.
I think someone of high status who doesn’t make excuses and shows up early for a person of lower status’ event is someone of good character.
The comedian Dara O’Briain handles this brilliantly. I’ve seen him perform a few times and each time he will call out the latecomers and heckle them. He’ll say things like ‘Oh sorry for starting the show on time’ and then you become his target for the rest of the show (all in good fun of course). So when you’re going to see a Dara O’Briain gig you make sure you show up on time!
Thomas Duggan 