A couple of weeks ago, we made arrangements for some people to come over and see us about something. We had never met this couple before, but we spoke to them on the phone and they seemed pleasant enough. We confirmed our location and they told us they would be here at noon. They live about half an hour's drive away.
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Accordingly, we cleaned the house and bathroom, tidied the yard, and (most importantly) put aside any additional plans we might have had for the afternoon.
Noon came and went, and they didn't show up.
We were in something of a state of limbo while we waited. We had a number of things we could have been doing, but those things entailed messing up the kitchen or disappearing into the shop or otherwise not being in immediate readiness for when this couple arrived.
One o'clock came and went, and still we waited.
Two o'clock came around and they still hadn't shown up. Don was absolutely fuming. If there's one thing that ticks him off, it's people who are late or who don't arrive when they tell us they'll be here unless they let us know they're running late for some reason. (Hey, things happen. We understand. Just let us know.)
So a bit after two o'clock, I called and reached the wife and asked if they were still planning on coming. "Of course!" she said. "We're almost ready to leave."
Almost ready to leave. And they live half an hour away.
So we sat tight and waited. Three o'clock came and went and they still hadn't shown up. So I called again. "We're just heading out the door," the wife assured me. "We just have a few stops to make along the way first."
A few stops to make along the way. After they assured us they would be here at noon.
Four o'clock rolls around, and they finally arrived. No apologies for the delay, no regrets about wasting our entire afternoon waiting for them. Just a breezy politeness as we transacted the reason for their being here in the first place.
We were polite. They were pleasant. But after they left, Don had absolutely no interest in ever seeing them again.
What is it about people's inability to value someone else's time?
AMEN!! People like that have no place in my life.
ReplyDeleteI would of course be fuming.
ReplyDeleteOn another note I would like to tap into your knowledge of birds. I have read in your column about the arrival of Robins. We always anticipate their arrival knowing that spring is not far behind. I live in N ID , and the other day my husband noticed a robin and stated, "what is that robin doing here". Well this morning we have witnessed 3 more, and of course it is late November. Don't they fly elsewhere during this time?
Yes, they would normally be gone this time of year. I was surprised to see a couple around our place as well, long past when they normally would have migrated. But according to the website linked below, it's nothing unusual.
Deletehttps://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/is-it-unusual-to-see-american-robins-in-the-middle-of-winter/
- Patrice
Around 2:30 I would have texted them to reschedule.
ReplyDeleteI guess some people are rude.
As far as I'm concerned, if you're not 5 minutes early, you're late.
ReplyDeleteBecause they did not suffer any consequences for their lack of respect to you and others so they fell into a long established pattern of abusing others generosity and valuable time. Very narcissistic behavior. You would do well to ignore and set them away before you are trapped into their mental illness.
ReplyDeleteMy sentiments are exactly the same!! Selfish and oblivious!
ReplyDeleteIt’s called entitlement. Your inconvenience probably never crossed their minds.
ReplyDelete