Punctuality

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Phryne

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It seems fairly obvious to me, that people run on a different time here, and rarely turn up at the originally arranged time, the attitude seems to be we'll get there eventually...

But I'm curious as to what is acceptable lateness and when it becomes plain rudeness. I understand that I have to make concessions, in Sydney our time is valuable and we make an effort to be punctual, and often make plans weeks in advance, I know this isn't the case here and shouldn't expect it.

The other day, I was invited to meet up with a relative. When I turned up at the appointed time, I received a message that they were running late but on their way. I waited. Another message, still on our way lots of traffic. I waited.

After waiting for an hour and forty five minutes I left, only to be told I was rude for not waiting longer as they apparently turned up only two hours late.

Is this lateness considered normal?
 
Phryne said:
It seems fairly obvious to me, that people run on a different time here, and rarely turn up at the originally arranged time, the attitude seems to be we'll get there eventually...

But I'm curious as to what is acceptable lateness and when it becomes plain rudeness. I understand that I have to make concessions, in Sydney our time is valuable and we make an effort to be punctual, and often make plans weeks in advance, I know this isn't the case here and shouldn't expect it.

The other day, I was invited to meet up with a relative. When I turned up at the appointed time, I received a message that they were running late but on their way. I waited. Another message, still on our way lots of traffic. I waited.

After waiting for an hour and forty five minutes I left, only to be told I was rude for not waiting longer as they apparently turned up only two hours late.

Is this lateness considered normal?
Click to expand...

This is considered normal in social situations and you better learnt to get used to it or you will go crazy :) Time for personal appointments is not considered to be exact .

There is a difference for business appointments where people are mostly reliable and come on time . Money is always a great motivator :)
 
Well we all know the locals here are so laid back.I waited for an ENGLISH friend on Friday and he arrived almost 3 hours late,luckily i was in a convenient watering hole!!!!!
 
Phryne said:
It seems fairly obvious to me, that people run on a different time here, and rarely turn up at the originally arranged time, the attitude seems to be we'll get there eventually...

But I'm curious as to what is acceptable lateness and when it becomes plain rudeness. I understand that I have to make concessions, in Sydney our time is valuable and we make an effort to be punctual, and often make plans weeks in advance, I know this isn't the case here and shouldn't expect it.

The other day, I was invited to meet up with a relative. When I turned up at the appointed time, I received a message that they were running late but on their way. I waited. Another message, still on our way lots of traffic. I waited.

After waiting for an hour and forty five minutes I left, only to be told I was rude for not waiting longer as they apparently turned up only two hours late.

Is this lateness considered normal?
Click to expand...

It is considered normal, however certainly let people know that you don't like it and that your wasted time is valuable to you.

When I first came here, it shocked me how some of my closest friends at the time would not show up even within 1/2 hour of the time we had set, or even call to let me know what was going on.

I then did it back a few times and they kind of got the message that it's not the way I operate and after that cut the crap with the lateness.
 
If I'm meeting up with someone from here, I never think about showing up until an hour later. So, if you want to meet up with someone at 7:00 p.m., tell them 6:00 p.m. If I arrive at 7 p.m., generally they are waiting for 15 minutes, or I end up waiting for 15 minutes. :)
 
Phryne said:
It seems fairly obvious to me, that people run on a different time here, and rarely turn up at the originally arranged time, the attitude seems to be we'll get there eventually...

But I'm curious as to what is acceptable lateness and when it becomes plain rudeness. I understand that I have to make concessions, in Sydney our time is valuable and we make an effort to be punctual, and often make plans weeks in advance, I know this isn't the case here and shouldn't expect it.

The other day, I was invited to meet up with a relative. When I turned up at the appointed time, I received a message that they were running late but on their way. I waited. Another message, still on our way lots of traffic. I waited.

After waiting for an hour and forty five minutes I left, only to be told I was rude for not waiting longer as they apparently turned up only two hours late.

Is this lateness considered normal?
Click to expand...

I can totally empathize with you, I'm from Sydney too & so far I have found that it really depends on whom you are waiting for. For social situations, I have found anything over half an hour is getting over the mark...professional people in this city do make a point not to be over 20min late. Two hours waiting around to me is certainly NOT the norm, in fact it's rude even in BsAs.

What's acceptable?

Friends - up to 30 mins.
Professionals etc up to 20.
Slackers, 1 to two hours.

That's just my experience.

R.
 
Thanks all, I'll start making sure I turn up a little later to things and see how we go.
 
I would expect friends to be up to an hour late if we were meeting at my home. If we are out somewhere, 30 to 40 minutes seems normal. I would never wait two hours for anybody unless it was my own home and I had nothing else to be doing.
 
I have had exactly the opposite problem. My Argentinean partner and I invited people for drinks and empanadas a recent Sunday evening at "7:00 or 7:30." First, the single Argentinean guy arrived at 6:30, while I was in the shower. Then the Argentinean couple we had invited arrived at 6:50. The lone American woman arrived at 7:45. I was flustered by the early arrivals, but my partner was cool. He said said "they just wanted to be here in time to visit for a while before we started eating." Based on this experience, I was thinking that I would start inviting people for AFTER I wanted them to arrive.
 
Speaking of that, is it rude to show up to a person's home on time? If they invite me over at 9pm, do they really expect me to show up later?
 
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