"If you plan to arrive early, then you are covered when circumstances beyond your control conspire to make you late.
"This is simple and obvious but many otherwise brilliant professionals clearly don’t think about it. The result is that they often arrive late. It’s never their fault, and yet it’s always the same people who are late."
The post is compelling because Zeldman places the reader not in the shoes of the person is perpetually late, but the others, who made major and minor sacrifices to be on time, and are left waiting.
Punctuality has always been one of my pet peeves, especially in business, and it's hard to reconcile with people who just don't make it a priority. The thing is, if I arrive early, I don't feel like I've wasted the time I could have put to better use by leaving later. Rather, I put those extra minutes to some good use - checking a to-do list, reading a book or a magazine, or simply relaxing and mentally preparing for my appointment.
On the other hand, if I spend my journey rushing in nervous anticipation of arriving late, even if I arrive on time, I still feel edgy from the trip. If a meeting isn't worth an early arrival, maybe it's not worth having at all.
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