poser765
Well-Known Member
I’m thinking there’s probably a pretty big generational difference here as well.Different career field but interesting to note, maybe. My father was the same way and the amount of dread he has instilled in my when I’m late for a thing is obnoxious. I’ve noticed most people my age or younger aren’t as worried about the damage to character getting to work late one morning it used to be seen as.
Senior guys/gals on the job would typically get to the building 30 minutes prior to the start of shift (self included). One of us would make a fresh pot of coffee, we'd chat a minute or two, and wander back to the dispatch center to get signed in. It was a gentle transition to an inevitably busy day. More often than not the midnight shift we relieved got to head home fifteen minutes early after handing-off any active calls and briefing on the previous eight hours.
New hires (and these were often men and women of more-tender years) tended to show-up last minute and generally didn't know what it meant to be a "team player," looking out for partners and coworkers. Continuing tardiness was cause for dismissal even if one was "only" five minutes late on a regular basis (emergencies, traffic issues, etc., were taken into consideration).
It was taken as a sign of disrespect to the outgoing shift, especially when relieving the midnight crew, if a person couldn't make it to work on time on a regular basis. It was also a contractual issue. Snowstorm with roadways closed? As "essential workers" you still went and did so early enough to arrive in a timely way. Our "magic" IDs got us through police/DOT road closures in some very severe weather. You didn't take the job, for most of us, without the clear understanding of the accompanying responsibility.
Like many who have posted, to be early was to be on-time; to be just "on-time" was to be late; to be genuinely late, apart from an exigent circumstance, was unforgivable.
If my scheduled shift or work activity starts at 0800, I’ll be in position and ready to work at 0800. Anything before that is MY time. I don’t have much desire to use my time for making a pot of coffee or talking to Linda in the break room. There’s nothing wrong doing those things… and since I’m not perfect at making my 20 minute commute take exactly 20 minutes chances are I’ll be there a bit early to engage in those things. I show respect to my employer and coworkers by being in position when I’m supposed to be. If they want more than that they should reevaluate my responsibilities.
Now I’m not saying it’s ok to be consistently 5 minutes late to log log into your phone, or open your cash register, or unlock the gates or whatever, but to err is a fundamental human trait. Being unable to forgive an error seems foolish. And frankly, and this may seem kind of confrontational (I don’t mean it that way), I’m not terribly worried about someone’s opinion of me that can’t forgive.