Today's Social Dilemma comes from Patty. I relate to it because I am a stickler for being on time. Here's the email I received:
Hi Jaime, Here's a social dilemma for you. I have a friend, who I absolutely love, but she has a horrible habit. She is constantly 5-10 minutes late for everything. Sometimes it's worse than that, and she ALWAYS blames traffic, which makes me crazy. We all know about traffic in the Capital District, so I leave my house earlier when I know there's going to be traffic. I love my friend, but this being late all the time is putting a damper on our friendship. I've tried to talk with her about it, but she just doesn't get it. She says she doesn't do it on purpose. HELP....what should I do? Do i stop making plans with her or do I just learn to accept her lateness as part of her personality? I hope you and the TRY gang will have some good advice for me. Thanks so much Jaime - Patty.
I know how Patty feels. I am a stickler for being on time. Usually I'm early, that's how much I try to make sure I'm on time. I think it's about respect. I had a friend who did this and it got to be that the only time we could see each other was when I would go to her house, because everywhere else she would come late and I would start our time together being ticked off. So let's help Patty out. What would you do in this situation? Give up on the friendship, try to lay down the law, or just accept things the way they are?