How late is considered rude?

moneyistooshorttomention

The other thing too is that whoever else is eating the meal is having to eat it late because of the rude people turning up late. I know my very first thought about people being late to share a meal with me is "I'm starving hungry because of them keeping me waiting", closely followed by "I'll probably bolt down my food so fast now because I've had to wait too long for it that I'll eat more than I really intend to and/or get indigestion thanks to them".

I have learnt, by now, to warn anyone that I am sharing an evening meal with one way or another that they HAVE to be on time, or I will eat at least as much as normal and then definitely get indigestion because of them (courtesy of having had to eat a full meal nearer my bedtime than planned on).

neneromanova

Georgiegirl256 wrote: »

Aww, sorry to hear that. I hope she still not in business now.

They say to always listen to your gut don't they, but sometimes you don't and then you could kick yourself.

I hope you managed to get some decent photos from your wedding though.

Nope, Still in business. But only because she's cheap.

thorsoak

OK. We all now know just how rude it is to be late. But what do you think is rudeness if, when you arrive on time - the time specified in the invitation - and dinner is served about 4 hours later????? So a barbeque scheduled for 7.30 pm is finally served at 11.30pm?????? And you have to plead to be allowed to eat inside, because it is so fri***ng cold?????

And by which time everyone bar the designated driver has had too much to drink?????

Person_one

thorsoak wrote: »

OK. We all now know just how rude it is to be late. But what do you think is rudeness if, when you arrive on time - the time specified in the invitation - and dinner is served about 4 hours later????? So a barbeque scheduled for 7.30 pm is finally served at 11.30pm?????? And you have to plead to be allowed to eat inside, because it is so fri***ng cold?????

And by which time everyone bar the designated driver has had too much to drink?????

I think that sort of situation is best avoided, it can lead to serious punctuation problems in the future.

thorsoak

Person_one wrote: »

I think that sort of situation is best avoided, it can lead to serious punctuation problems in the future.

:beer::beer::rotfl:

That's the trouble with families ... it leads to excessive use of punctuation!

lostinrates

thorsoak wrote: »

OK. We all now know just how rude it is to be late. But what do you think is rudeness if, when you arrive on time - the time specified in the invitation - and dinner is served about 4 hours later????? So a barbeque scheduled for 7.30 pm is finally served at 11.30pm?????? And you have to plead to be allowed to eat inside, because it is so fri***ng cold?????

And by which time everyone bar the designated driver has had too much to drink?????

I think barbecues are well known for having 'timing problems'. Particularly if they are charcoal ones.


I simply couldn't be out like that because my dogs would have crossed legs ( we'd accept invitations for half eight usually) .

Pollycat

aileth wrote: »

I am really quite OCD about timing. I ALWAYS leave at 27-minutes-past-eight every single morning for work, and get antsy if it's a minute early or late.

When I'm going to someone's house, I will time it down to the minute, so much so that when I've been five minutes early I've parked around the corner so that I arrive at, say, 6.59.

Are you me?

Pollycat wrote: »

I'm obsessive about time-keeping (Think John Cleese in Clockwise :eek:)
I don't like people who turn up early - if I say I'm going to be ready for 7:30, I'll be ready at 7:30.
I won't be ready at 7:25.

However, I think being late (without a very good reason) is the height of rudeness.

It says 'my time is more important than yours so I can keep you waiting indefinitely'.

Hanky_Panky

Just last Christmas some friends of my wife turned up two and a half hours early :eek:

My wife wasn't even there and I wasn't dressed. I was like '!!!!!!?', the husband looked embarrassed and the wife's excuse was that she just couldn't stand being in her sister's company a moment longer so decided to come to ours early.

They live overseas so we don't get the chance to see them too often which is a shame as I do really like them - just not that early !

Lizling

I really wouldn't want anyone turning up early. It happened once when some friends had come from quite a long way away, and it was really awkward because I was just about to head over to the shops to get the wine and I didn't have any in yet to offer them while they waited!

TBagpuss

I think about 10 minutes leeway either way OK (after all, unless you synchronize watches with each guest when you invite them, a few minutes early or late could be a matter of one of your watches being a bit slow or fast)

More than that, and if you are early, then unless you are a *very close friend or family member, it's appallingly rude to put the host in the position of having to 'host' before they are expecting or read to do so.I think it's perhaps even ruder than being late, as it's very difficult for a hpst to turn someone away.

If you are running late, you should make every effort to let the host know, and to apologise, and if you have more than one guest its rude to the others to keep them waiting because of one person running late. If you invite people at 7.30 for 8, you should be serving the meal by 8.15, to the guests who had the manners to show up on time.

I hosted a 'house concert' a little while ago. The invitation clearly stated that the music would be at 7.30, and that guests were welcome to arrive from 6.45 onwards for mingling, drinks and nibbles.

One guy turned up at 6.15. The musicians and I were still eating, we had not set up the room, or changed, or set out the food for the gurests. It was really awkward, and it boggles my mind that anyone would think it is OK to turn up uninvited like that.