Photo by Evan Sharboneau, Photo Extremist; found on Flickr; licensed through Creative Commons.
I'm late, I'm late for a very important date. No time to say hello, good-bye, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late. — Michele Novotni in ADDItude MagazIne, quoting the 1951 Disney movie, Alice in Wonderland
How many of us are in this situation regularly — because we didn't plan our leave-the-house routine well enough, or because we fell prey to what Kathleen Nadeau, also in ADDItude Magazine, called one-more-thing-itis?
We know that running late can become a bad habit, but these words from Laurie Perry, also known as Crazy Aunt Purl, remind us just how serious a problem this can become:
This is what happened last month when that lady hit my Jeep. After the crash she sat in her car, writing out her phone number for me, saying, "I was late for work." I remember looking at her with absolute disbelief, thinking You almost killed me because you were late for work?
That line keeps coming back to me at the oddest times. I'll see someone blow through a red light and hear that lady saying, I was late for work. And then I think, I hope they don't kill someone just because they couldn't bother to leave on time for work today.
Related Post:
Stop Being Late
Jeri, I love seeing Crazy Aunt Purl quoted in your blog! This post is so spot on. A couple of years ago, I turned into the left lane of a two-way street, thinking it was one-way because I was late to give a talk. (I blogged about it: http://www.peaceofmindorganizing.com/blog/on-being-early.)
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right that it's that "gotta do one more thing" mentality that gets me into trouble. Thanks for the reminder that I promised myself that I'd try to be early (rather than just on time) to appointments.
I had to remove a comment from Sabrina because of a problem with the link on her name, but here's what she wrote:
ReplyDeleteI hope with all the rushing aroucn that people realize that driving is a responsibility that needs to be taken seriously. In the last two weeks, I heard of two people that were in accidents because of drunk driving and talking on the phone while driving. Thanks for the post!
Janine, I remember your blog post - it's really good (and makes the same point, extremely well) so I'm glad you mentioned it.
ReplyDeleteSabrina, multitaking while driving - driving while distracted - is indeed a VERY serious issue. (And of course drunk driving is horrible.)