Since when did being on time become a virtue?

"Now, being punctual has become an advantage. Isn't being punctual? I think this (referring to taking punctuality as an advantage) needs to be redefined! Maybe now... the requirements are different from before, so even being punctual, Memorizing lines is an advantage." One day, on the hot search on Weibo, a video of Tianwang/Andy Lau's former interview appeared.

Quoted from part of the content: Hong Kong 01 · Andy Lau lamented that the standards of today's actors have become lower: "Isn't it right to be on time?"

I don't know if everyone is on time.

Honestly, I'm a punctual person, even early to the scene. Someone once said to me "your advantage is being on time", but when I hear it now, I feel very confused? Isn't it normal to think "on time" all the time?

So, when I saw this video of Andy, what Andy said resonated with me a lot. I can understand his confusion very well. When did our life begin, and being on time has become an advantage?

Unwritten shallow rules, appointment times are just for reference.

Deciding whether to be on time or not depends on each person's concept of time and whether they want to attend a very formal occasion, such as: job interviews, work clocks, business meetings, colleagues dinners, invitations from friends and relatives, weddings Funerals and celebrations...etc. On different occasions, everyone has different standards.

For formal occasions, such as the time for a wedding banquet in Taiwan, the time written on the wedding invitation is usually just a reference, and the actual table opening time will take 30 minutes or an hour before the dishes are served one after another. Because of this unwritten rule, the guests of the banquet usually do not arrive on time.

One possible reason is that when the newcomer prepares the invitation, the post will not attach an invitation letter, so the newcomer is not sure how many people can actually be present. Even if it is time to sit, but if the table is not more than 80% full, most of the food will not be served.

***

Before in a certain company, everyone had a good relationship at work, and privately they would go out to sing, eat, drink coffee, etc., but everyone had a tacit understanding and would never arrive on time.

This tacit understanding bothers me very much, because I am a very punctual person, and even arrive at the scene half an hour early. When "late" becomes a tacit understanding in a small circle, it really makes me feel very uncomfortable.

I have made private appointments several times for dinner, not to mention 100%, but almost 90% or more. Every time I make an appointment, someone will be late. Moreover, being late is also contagious. At the beginning, only one was late, and then it became two, and all of them were late together.

I think it's acceptable to be 15 minutes late occasionally, but if I'm more than 15 minutes late for every appointment, I can't accept it. Even later, my "on time" became a matter of course.

Once we booked a restaurant, it was about 11:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, and I was used to arriving early, and I was already there at 10:30. At 10:50, I passed Line to the group and said, "I'm here, do you want to go first?"

"Okay~ I'll be late." Everyone will start to send back messages one after another, "I'm nearby, and I'm still looking for a way. You go first."
"I'm looking for a parking space. There are very few parking spaces nearby."

Some people have not read it yet, and some people have not read it yet, but they will definitely go to the appointment. We can't guarantee how many people there will be.

Usually I'm like, "Okay! Let's go ahead and wait."

Unexpectedly, as soon as I sat down, I waited for half an hour, and I sat alone at a six-seater round table in an open space. During this time of waiting, I can only slide my phone as a person with my head down. During the process, the waiter will keep coming up to ask if I need to order first? Due to the limited time for meals, the starting time is calculated from the time I take my seat.

It took half an hour for the first person to appear, and the following people showed up one after another. The most ridiculous thing was that some people arrived an hour late. And every person who arrives late, the first sentence at the scene is "I just walked the wrong way" "sudden stomach pain" "I'm here for the first time, the road is not familiar..." There are many reasons to come. Justify their late behavior.

I feel as if I have become a tool person, and being on time has become a disadvantage that seems like an advantage. A few times, they shamelessly said, "Anyway, you arrived so early, this restaurant upstairs at Taipei Main Station can't make reservations, you must queue up on the spot, then you go and help in the queue first."

please! I live in Keelung, and each of you live in Taipei, New Taipei, and you want me to be there first to line up? ! Later, I also compromised and arrived at the scene early. Everyone had already entered the restaurant to take a seat. How could everyone be more than half an hour late? I'm baffled...

May I ask why you are not late for work?

respect each other's time

What I care about is not the behavior of the other party being "late", but whether you respect my time or not. Everyone has 24 hours a day. Today, I am willing to arrive early, not my habit, but attach importance to today's date.

Occasionally being late a few times by accident, I don’t care that much, but every time I am late, there are unexpected reasons for each time. After being late, I will overweight and rationalize my late behavior. It should be unacceptable for normal people, right?

Right now, if I'm angry, I'll hear them say in unison, "No one forced you to arrive so early?" "It's normal to be late", "It's Free when you come out with us, you don't have to be on time!" Every time I hear these If you do, you will feel like an idiot.

Several times it makes me wonder if there is something wrong with my concept? Am I living in a parallel universe? Difficult to arrive, is being late a normal thing? There are times when I doubt myself like this

I admit that I am a person who can't understand "being late". These people who are habitually late are because everyone loves to be late, so are they late in order to integrate into everyone? Or is it because you are naturally anti-bone and don't like to go according to the time everyone said? Or is it that you haven't found a way that suits you in terms of time management?

No matter which one it is, we do not live in ancient times, and we have to rely on watchmen and sundials to know the time. We are surrounded by watches, cell phones, computers, and timetables that pop up on the road every now and then. There are so many tools and electronic devices that can assist us, and stop rationalizing our habitually late behavior.

share the idea of punctuality

Although I don't know the thoughts of those who are habitually late, and I personally don't like to preach, but here I can share my punctuality concept for reference to those who are late.

Time to consider: preparation time before going out, waiting time, driving time, transfer time and walking time.

You need to take into account the preparation time before you go out, the journey time of the vehicle, the walking time of the transfer, and so on. For example: at 11:00 in the morning, meet in front of Exit 6 of Ximen Station of Taipei MRT.

My preparation time before going out is about half an hour, and I will grab an extra ten minutes of buffering, so before 40 minutes, I must start preparing for the action before going out.

After walking out of the house, it takes ten minutes to walk to the train station. The journey by train is about half an hour. If you change trains to take the MRT, you will take ten minutes to walk. The time to wait for the MRT is about five minutes. It takes about two minutes, and it takes about three minutes to walk to Exit 6 of Ximen MRT Station. Therefore, the time for this ride will take an hour.

40 minutes of preparation ahead + 60 minutes of driving = 100 minutes

At the latest, I have to start preparing before 9:20 am, but I don't wake up until after 9:00 in the morning, and I get up at least an hour earlier to freshen up and eat breakfast. After 9:20, I will start to comb and change clothes.

Buffer time and unexpected time

Continuing from the first point above, the "buffer time" should take into account how familiar you are with the location of your appointment and how fast you are. If you are not familiar with the location and your feet are not fast, it is recommended to add half an hour to the calculation.

"Accidental time" refers to small accidents such as train delays, MRT conditions, detours during construction near the appointment location, there may be internal urgency or girls need to touch up makeup, etc. Usually, I will directly catch 20 minutes of accidental time. .

40 minutes of preparation ahead + 60 minutes of driving + 20 minutes of accident = 120 minutes

The first point just now, plus the unexpected time, the example just given will take 120 minutes.

Even if you arrive early, don't put pressure on the other person.

I know that most people will arrive at the scene around the time of pressing the line.
So, when I arrive early, I don't send a message on the messenger that I'm there.

I think doing this will put pressure on the other side and not everyone will be there early like they are.

This is also a kind of tenderness to friends.
Although I ask myself to be punctual, I will not apply this model to others.

It is only ten minutes before the appointment time that I will send a message to the other party that I am nearby.

Arrive at your destination early so you can stroll around the neighborhood in a leisurely and graceful manner.

"Appearing in a hurry" and "appearing calmly", I would rather choose the latter.

The biggest advantage of arriving early is that you can wander around the neighborhood first, or study the menu first to see what you want later. For girls, you can also go to the dressing room to apply makeup and lipstick, and adjust your state.

I personally like the place where there is an Eslite bookstore nearby, because Eslite is very easy to shop around. You can pretend to be dressed as Wenqing to flip through refurbished books, and you can also browse the cultural and creative products of Eslite, and you will not be bored at all. If you happen to want to buy something, you can also go and buy what you want first.

Getting to the scene early was really not as bad as I imagined.

Find a comfortable place to sit and scroll, listen to a song, or write an article.

If you don't particularly want to go shopping, that's ok! Then find a comfortable seat and sit down.
Watching passers-by in a daze or swiping a cell phone, reciting a word, writing an article, you can do whatever you want.

Share what Andy said in the interview...

"Even now I think it's my fault. Because the world has changed, I'm still stuck in the past. Don't force others to follow your rhythm or your model."

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