Of all the people that know me, they will tell of the one thing that makes Erin Kate angry beyond repair; that one thing is lateness…or, rather, a total disrespect of the concept of time. We all have our views and beliefs of what time truly consists of: minutes, hours, eons, life cycles, coffee spoons, etc. I take the idea of time very seriously. My definition comes, in part, from the wasting of moments, and the treasuring of moments. See, I look at every minute of life as having some purpose. I am not writing about life-altering moments…but every moment attaches itself to a cause. A cause that we follow — willingly or not.
So, my bone of contention lies with those who look at time as their own — and not a shared collective. Your time is incredibly valuable…as is mine…as is the homeles man counting pennies in the sky. I cannot dictate what you do with your time….I won’t even really try. I do demand the courtesy (possible to demand courtesy?) that you are not careless or wasteful with my time. This comes to the topic of appointments. Most who know me know that I am rarely, if ever, late….and I always call if there will be lateness to profusely apologize. To not do the same is blatantly disrespectful…as you have wasted my moments that had been planned to be you. To not show up — well…don’t do that…as you will not appreciate the consequences that my wrath will bring.
For example, earlier this week, i had a scheduled appointment with some employees at work. Meeting request and agenda were sent out and all 7 people accepted the time/location/purpose. I arrive my traditional 5 minutes early. On schedule was one person. Nobody else showed up. I fumed. I believe I actually turned the color of an eggplant on roids. As I conducted the meeting with the sole participant, I was already calculating what I would do. The meeting concluded (as 3 out of the 5 agenda items could not be discussed as their primary’s were not in attendance) and I retreated to my office. 41 minutes past the originally scheduled 30 minute meeting, one employee came in to say that they “forgot” — I summarily dismissed them in true Axe fashion.
How could people be so careless as not to mention they couldn’t attend? This meeting took place 80 feet from where they spend their days, not on Mars (which is where I wanted to ship them). i do not understand rudeness that some people display. I was told “It’s not intentional” — but it is…they chose not to communicate.
I have had my delicious revenge. Let that be a lesson to all of you “time-suckers” out there…don’t piss off the HR lady on the one thing that she truly gets pissed about….it is your time that will then be sucked.
