Waiting

I am a big fan of the "just in time" way. I live in a place where I pretty much have the traffic patterns down pat and I can leave my house and be where I need to be pretty much exactly on time. If I tell someone I'll pick them up at xx:xx, I'm usually on time.

Why aren't other people the same? It's certainly not that I am more considerate than the average person. On too many occasions to count I've been told that someone will pick me up at a certain time only to be at the door, waiting or if I arrive at their place at the pre-arrange time I sit there waiting. More infuriating still, is the invite to come in while they finish getting ready.

Recently I was out of town with someone and after waiting patiently for them to get ready (I'm pretty low-maintenance) we would then go out for a meal, only for them to not ACTUALLY be ready because they still needed to have a cigarette before we went into the restaurant!

So, to be clear, of course I've been late and kept people waiting but it's not a regular thing - I'm just asking that everyone else try a little harder. Please? For me?