Being late is a disease of the mind. It is a terrible disease that plagues many people and yet these people don’t seem to want to exterminate it at all. It is strange but true.

Someone arranged to meet me at 2.30pm today but only turned up at 3.15pm. Late? Definitely. Apologetic? I don’t think so.

In the minds of these people, it’s perfectly alright to be late. ‘Better late than never’ is the excuse they will inevitably give. There’s always some creative sub-excuses they will use. The bus broke down. There was a bad traffic jam. I left my keys at home. I lost track of time. The taxi driver took the longer route…blah blah blah…It’s always one of these or a variant of them. It’s always someone else’s fault, never their own.

Especially during Chinese wedding banquet dinners, it’s the norm to be late. Should you arrive early, the hosts will think you are one of the hungry ghosts that didn’t return to the other world.

Being late speaks volumes of one’s character. When you are late, it means you don’t respect other people and yourself. If only being late was a matter of life and death, I wonder if people will start treating it seriously.

I gave the late-comer a black face. After all, I can’t be sweet and cordial towards a late-comer and pretend nothing happened, can I? He broke an agreement.

Comments(0)