Lateness Rules

When I was growing up, my dad had a saying. To be early was to be on time. To be on time was to be late. To be late was unacceptable.

As a kid, this mantra seemed intolerable. I remember being the first car in every parking lot, usually waiting for someone to unlock the doors. You can imagine my surprise when I finally realized that now, as an adult, I find myself reluctantly adhering to this advice--at least to a degree. I'm not generally the first one in the parking lot anymore, but I'm rarely late, and when I am, the guilt is unbearable.

My penchant for punctuality is something that seems foreign to some of my students. For those that decide to show up, most seem to find their desks in time to receive my opening salvo. Nevertheless, I usually ease into the lecture. An announcement here, a funny story there...but within no more than ten minutes, I'm diving head-first into my lecture for the day. After all, I have a finite amount of time to talk, and in a world of sound-byte driven attention spans, I have to make the most of my time.

There are a few different types of tardy that we in academia experience. The most tolerable are the courteous ones that let you know at the beginning of the semester that they have to trek from the end of the earth, or work, or commute, and who also come in quietly and sit in the back. While I’m not a fan of “late”, when students make an effort, I'll take courtesy as the compromise.

Not all students are late all the time. Some fall into what I like to call the “Oh my gods there’s a paper due today!” crowd. These are the ones that realize as they’re walking out the door that they’ve forgotten their assignment. For those who’ve simply forgotten to stash it in their bags, they may not be all that late—if they’re late at all. The student I have a problem with is the one that forgets the assignment entirely, and shows up once they have slapped together something--anything--that will garner them a couple of points.

Now I will tolerate the courteous and the "forgot my paper" crowd. What I do have a problem with are the people that stroll in 30 minutes after class has started, stopping at every third desk as they come in to say hi to their friends. Or the person that chooses to sit up front and makes such a ruckus that the class comes to a grinding, screeching halt. I can't take credit for experiencing the best of the worst, though. That title belongs to a colleague of mine, who was forced to admonish a student who strolled in 15 minutes late. Not that his tardiness alone was the issue. It was more the fact that he strolled in the room and continued to talk on his cell phone--despite the fact that her lecture had already started.

I don't know when or how it happened, but somewhere along the road my father's mantra got mangled. When along the way did late become on-time, and on-time become unacceptable?

If you have an answer, I'd love to hear it. Just be sure catch me before I leave for class...