I had to chuckle at the following e-mail exchange captured by Scott Greenfield over at Simple Justice because I am always on time and would never think so highly of myself as to walk into a room an hour late under any circumstance. Time management (or lack thereof) is a huge pet peeve of mine. I’m just like that. I always leave time for traffic, plane delays, little emergencies, etc. and have little tolerance for others who don’t. If I am leading a meeting, or moderating a panel discussion, I begin at the stated time, and I end at the stated time. There’s even a term for this. It’s called “honoring your time commitment.” I don’t know if this story is urban legend, or actually happened, but I remember hearing how George W. Bush on his first day as president calling an 8:00 a.m. meeting. At 8:00 a.m. he stood up, walked over and locked the conference room doors. At that moment you were either in the meeting, or not. No one was ever late again.I love that! So, here’s my take on people who are late. They are late because they find that THEIR time is more important than yours. Period.  They took too long getting ready that morning. They didn’t put the paper down. They didn’t get off that call. They chose to run a “quick” errand. You get the picture. I live in Los Angeles. Traffic capital of the world. I always leave an extra 20 minutes to get from the Westside to downtown. An extra 45 minutes to get to the Valley. If my appointment is at 10:00, I schedule myself to arrive at 9:30, “just in case.” If by luck there is no traffic and I’m early, there’s always a Starbucks I can hit, or a phone call I can return from the parking lot. Why am I peeved about late people? Because my time is limited and it is extremely valuable to me, and I get angry when you waste it. I don’t care if you are a doctor, lawyer, teacher, my boyfriend or my 9-year old Junior Girl Scout. I don’t care if you’re a very important person, on an important call with another really important person. Honor your time commitments. Lighten your schedule, or learn how to manage your time better. If you’re running  more than five minutes late, call and let your party know. Be respectful. Ok. There’s one excuse for being late … my doctor had to run out and deliver a baby across the street at the hospital this morning, leaving me in the waiting room with some really bad magazines. But, I must say, she said she’d be back in 30 minutes, and she was.