So, I’m sitting in the doctor’s office waiting … not for my own appointment actually, but for anyone’s appointment. Why? Because I’m late.
Since I’ve already lost my place in line, they’ve told me I’ll need to reschedule, but I decide to wait for someone not to show up instead.
Why? Because this is my rescheduled appointment from last week when I was late, and I’m not sure I’ll be on time for a third. My dentist’s office knows me so well they simply lie to me, writing down appointment times at least 15 minutes ahead to throw me off. Of course, I’m OK with this, even grateful. When I call them breathlessly to tell them I’m five minutes away, they simply laugh as if to ask, “What else is new?”
Miraculously, I get called to the back of the doctor’s office, probably due to the staff’s desire to politely remove me from the waiting room than to an actual cancellation. I marveled, 20-plus years of being not-so-fashionably late, and I still struggle to modify my behavior. I do try.
I wonder, though: What if my behavior led to something truly serious, like jail time? While being late rarely leads to incarceration, what if it did? Would I be the type of person that could truly change then? I’m sure I’d learn quickly how to manage my mornings better if being behind bars was the outcome of not being on time.