Are you always late or always early

Another early bird. I would far rather sit and wait for an hour than be 5 minutes late. It's quite the family joke now. They know I will be first to arrive anywhere and although I appreciate things can happen to disrupt being on time, I find consistent late comers just plain rude.
At our Library coffee morning today, the speaker was getting into his stride when this lady, who is always late, comes in. You would think she would quietly sit at the back but no. She spies a seat in the front row and proceeds down a fairly narrow aisle between the chairs, dragging her shopping trolley behind her. The speaker paused his Power Point display while she took off her coat, folded it over the back of her seat and settled herself. He then had problems restarting his computer and when he did a few minutes into his talk, her phone went off, very loudly. No apologies, no nothing. There were a few murderous looks going on behind her back.

Definitely always early, I think if you have an appointment it's bad manners to be late and with traffic problems, parking etc can't trust being exactly on time so it's the only alternative - for me anyway.

My father was an army officer who told all his six children that ‘ a soldier was always on parade 10 minutes early’ and it stuck.

I like to think I’m on time, but veering towards early. By her own admission, my friend chooses to do little with her life, so I know when I meet her (2x a week) at our usual time, she’s probably been there half an hour already! Of course we could meet half an hour earlier, but she’d still be there with half an hour to spare. 😁

I'm Mrs Veryearly blessed (!) with a son and sons in law who are time optimists.
It's beyond stressful to me, and absolutely no problem to them.

Never late unless it was something out of my control, like traffic.
Its disrespectful to whomever you are meeting and says “my time is worth more than yours”.

My dad was a marine pilot and being late was not an option.Like LadyGracie it has stuck with me and I am always far too early for everything 🙄

Early or on time.
Tend to agree with the below comment from Fallingstar.
Fallingstar
"I tend to think that serial latecomers as opposed to those who only do it infrequently are quite selfish because they are prepared to waste other people’s time in order to suit themselves."

I am usually a little early but am struggling to remember to leave home earlier now that my walking speed has slowed down a lot! I am learning to readjust the time it takes to walk to places now.

When the DC were young, we used to host big lunches for family, who were always early. Six or eight of them would arrive around 10.45 for lunch at 1pm. It used to annoy me. I think it is just as rude to arrive at someone's house very early as being a bit late.

Elusivebutterfly

I am usually a little early but am struggling to remember to leave home earlier now that my walking speed has slowed down a lot! I am learning to readjust the time it takes to walk to places now.

When the DC were young, we used to host big lunches for family, who were always early. Six or eight of them would arrive around 10.45 for lunch at 1pm. It used to annoy me. I think it is just as rude to arrive at someone's house very early as being a bit late.

You are right about entertaining ElusiveButterfly , people who arrive too early for lunch are nearly as bad as people who arrive very late but on balance I prefer the earlycomers because at least the food isn't spoiled.
I am peevish about latecomers because as a schoolgirl one of our group of four friends wasalways late for nights out which left us standing out in the cold and rain or in inadequate shelter therefrom until she deigned to rock up. The others didn't seem to mind so perhaps I'm just too uptight.

Elusivebutterfly

I am usually a little early but am struggling to remember to leave home earlier now that my walking speed has slowed down a lot! I am learning to readjust the time it takes to walk to places now.

When the DC were young, we used to host big lunches for family, who were always early. Six or eight of them would arrive around 10.45 for lunch at 1pm. It used to annoy me. I think it is just as rude to arrive at someone's house very early as being a bit late.

Yes it can be rude to arrive too early for a home cooked meal, I would hate it when this happened because as well as flying round the kitchen doing the cooking I would not have changed clothes etc., and the early guest/guests would insist upon coming in the kitchen chatting and asking if they could do anything which just heaped on the pressure.
We would never arrive earlier than 10 mins before the meal and sit in the car if we got there too early.
But eating out or going to the cinema/theatre is a different kettle of fish.

I’m always early.
As a teenager I was once late for a dentist’s appointment - bus didn’t turn up - as he greeted me with ‘Hmph, time is money you know’. No anaesthetic for me that day, and I have never been late for anything since!

I agree elusivebutterfly that too early is also inconsiderate. I have walked around many neighbourhoods to use up the time before being punctual.

Early.
If I have an appointment I like to allow plenty of time, as I hate being late for anything. Same when I’m meeting friends. I’d rather reach the venue early and either wait inside or in the car than keep them waiting.

Obviously, there can be circumstances that are beyond my control that can result in me being late, but those times are rare and the circumstances unforeseen.

I’m an early bird . My mum was very disorganised and we were often late for school . I was so happy to get the bus to my secondary school .
Working in dentistry for most of my adult life has made me very aware of being on time and I prefer to get somewhere earjy rather than rushing . And living and working in London has made me very aware of traffic issues .

Late in my earlier life sadly now trying to get it right and only yesterday I was hanging around far too early.
My DD tells me I have a form of adhd which she has inherited from me and this is just one of the things that is symptomatic of it apparently.
It’s not fun, not bad manners but a difficulty in organising and planning. And I suppose if you know you know.

Always early, I prefer to be 30 minutes early rather than 5 minutes late !

Always early and luckily DH is the same.
DD1 is a late person but DD2 is like me and always early.

We are both always early and our two sons are the same.

Always early but both my DDs leave everything to the last minute and usually get to their destination by the skin of their teeth. I find it very stressful if they are taking me anywhere!
My parents in law were usually late and have missed holiday flights because of it!

Another early bird here. I am sometimes ridiculously early but when my DD is taking me somewhere then we usually get there by the skin of our teeth and that I find really stressful! Much prefer being early! When my DH was alive he would insist on getting to appointments at least half an hour early, and I usually took a flask of tea which we would drink whilst we waited!

I am an early bird. When picking grandchildren up from school always early, going to theatre have to be seated half an hour before it starts. I have two daughters who are last minute.com drives me mad and stresses me. I have got worse as I’ve got older!

I always aim to be on time, & 90% of the time I am.

I am trying to allow a bit more time, not because I'm often late, I'm not, but I get very anxious and rushing around last minute doesn't help.
And I have more leisure to wait around nowadays.

I m always early and always catch a bus or train before the one that would get me there on time
I had to go to hospital using two buses this week I was there an hour early but I d much rather sit and watch the world go by that arrive flustered
However if it was like a house visit I d wander around till the right time
I can t stand people being late

Up until my late 30s I struggled with timekeeping, but then something clicked and I've been early or on time ever since.

I aim to be early because it gives me a bit of time for delays, meaning I could still be on time.

Also, I hate rushing and if I'm late, I have to rush, which I hate.

I'm an early bird as I don't like to keep others waiting. The way roadworks seem to pop up undervalued around where I live you need to give yourself at least an extra 15 minutes. I would prefer to sit in the car for a but rather than be late.