Finneran: Be On-Time
Friday, September 13, 2019
Tom Finneran
They passed on the accumulated wisdom and basic courtesies of many generations.
They taught us that one of the fundamental and underlying principles of life was being on time.
We are taught to be on time for work. We are taught to be on time for church. We are taught to be on time for school. We are taught to be on time for games……….and concerts, and movies, and tee times, and dates, and dinner, and meetings. We are taught to be on time for most of life itself!!
What then is wrong with the younger generations, who seem to drift from one casual encounter to another, as if the loss of time is no big deal.
For the record, it is a big deal. And it is rude.
Productive people have busy lives. They often have very detailed daily schedules involving conference calls, meetings, and presentations. Even their “free time” on any given day is usually dedicated to a very specific purpose.
My rule of thumb is no less than ten minutes early. Fifteen minutes is better.
So, if practice or Mass or a meeting is scheduled for 7:00 AM, you belong there by 6:45. If you’re running “late” then it’s 6:50 AM, and not one second later.
Former Boston College and New York Giant football coach is legendary for his ten-minute rule. As is a guy named Belichick.
They are sticklers for being prompt. They are sticklers for being “on time”. I admire them for it. They are insisting on orderliness in a disorderly world. Bless their work O Lord, bless their work.
For me, it’s a question of rudeness. My casual late arrival to a meeting or conference call is an insult to all the other parties who presumably arrived on time and are now waiting upon me. Do they start the discussion without me, knowing that they will have to repeat much of which has been said? Or do they simply fiddle with their phones while they wait for Mr. Late Arrival to bless them with his entrance?
Either way, my late arrival is disrespectful of their lives and obligations.
My grandson Braeden has noticed my Belichickian insistence on always being noticeably early rather than ever being one minute late. And he teases me with questions such as this: “Papa, would you rather be two hours early for an appointment or two minutes late?”
My response is to tell him to always be early and, in anticipation of waiting for others to arrive, to bring a good book to read. Or, if it’s a practice, to jog and stretch and warm up so that you’re ready to go when the coach blows his whistle.
Be on time Braeden, be on time.
Respect others and always be on time.
Tom Finneran is the former Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, served as the head the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, and was a longstanding radio voice in Boston radio.
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