I'm Too Late To Say I'm Sorry

What’s the difference between an excuse and an explanation?

The other day I was meeting someone for lunch and I was half an hour late. When I arrived, apologizing profusely, I approached the table and I could tell that whatever I was about to say wouldn’t matter. I could have been held up at gunpoint. I could have been in a car accident. I could have been in a car accident and then held up at gunpoint and I knew what his response would be. "Well you should have left earlier.”

And blaming it on traffic is the worst way to go. There’s always someone who will point out: traffic doesn’t make people late, it makes late people later.
So how far in advance am I supposed to leave to make 100% sure I’m not late? If I have a lunch plan with someone do I leave after breakfast?

But if you think about it, the person who is waiting has it easy. They’re inside, sitting at a table with a glass of wine, quietly fuming. Whereas the person who’s rushing not to be late is on the verge of a stroke. We're stuck in a tunnel of darkness underground with no way to escape, sweat dripping, the mobile has no signal and the train isn’t moving. And, worst of all, you know that when you arrive and say “The tube had delays” or “Traffic was terrible”, you might as well be saying “I don’t care about you” because that’s all they hear.

Why is it that people who are kept waiting never seem to think about the people who are late? It’s very inconsiderate.

Comments

[Ness Towndrow]

I reckon some people just love to make you feel guilty. They are probably also the kind of people who, if things were the other way around, would fail to apologise at all.

[Sarcasmo (planet Misogynistotron)]

"Why is it that people who are kept waiting never seem to think about the people who are late? It’s very inconsiderate"

This is why you're a genius.

I will be wheeling out this argument in future relationships.
I have never been on time for anything, ever.
My habitual lateness seems to have irritated the women I've been 'romantically' involved with and even occasionally ruffles the feathers of my female friends. Yet, my male friends are merely amused.
Am I alone in this observation regarding the differences between the sexes?
If not could this mean that maybe, (just maybe) women are generally more inconsiderate than men?

[Brian]

Full circle. Too late to wit to woo.

[Paul]

Brian,you rascal.There must be some obscure translation to your post(apart from outright stealing) so please feel free to share.
On the subject of being late there are no excuses,just apologies.
Remember,there is nothing so sad in this world as being the only person sat at a table when a place is full.It takes more courage than I would have to sit alone for any great length of time in a very public place for all the world to view.
The truth is that eatting out is all about advertising.It says "I am attractive to company,therefore I must be interesting!!!!".If you eat out alone publicly, what kind of statement are you trying to make!!!"I am an empty space so fill me"!.I shudder,then reach for the glass.
How many excellent people are consigned to the dungeons of lonelieness that are "microwave meals for one" when to cook for two is so easy!!
There are no substitutes for the three "C's".Company,conversation and congeniality.

[Rachel Reese]

I totally get this blog, when I leave home for an appointment with what I think is time to spare, London Transport always conspires against me and I am late.

However, when I leave obscenely early to ensure I am on time for an appointment, the transport system knows this, and gets me there without delay, so I become the person sitting there with the wine for 30 minutes or so before the appointment. Further, if my associate is late, I am more angry with them, because I have already been there for 30 minutes before they should have arrived!! Life is full of contradictions!!