http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/10/07/politics/fromtheroad/entry4507703.shtml

Besides ending up next to God what possibly could your life goal be? Want a shortcut? Lesson of the day: Timeliness is next to Godliness. Show up when you are supposed to. I wonder as I receive the “running 5 minutes late” text what people did twenty years ago, pre-cell phones. Did you have to be where you said you’d be when you said you’d be there? Ugh. How awful. How constraining.

If you’re meeting up with someone who also likes to show up 5 minutes late…amazing. Match made in heaven. But if you are meeting someone you know is a stickler (my grandmother, Joe Kildea, the President, Anna Wintour), show up on time. No matter what it takes, no matter who you have mow over on the sidewalk or how early you have to set your alarm clock, get there on time.

If you are one of those people who is so consistently late that those around you no longer count on you to show up, that’s scary. Change. Life is a set of innings. Don’t irritate your fellow man or woman with disrespect. If you keep someone waiting, you are wasting their time. A game of Spore on my iPhone will only fill the void of your presence for so long….Amen.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR —

I've traveled to India and watched the Hindus wake up Mother Ganges. I lived in Italy during September 11th when the Italians draped the Ponte Vecchio with an American flag, and I watched the Italians procrastinate until December 31st to transition from the Lire to the Euro. Tourists have pushed me off the sidewalk on 5th Avenue, and I have been laid off twice in one year. I've worked in the White House Social Office and welcomed guests on behalf of the President. I've been molested on the subway on my way to work but then been rescued by an undercover New York City police officer. I've eaten bagels in the Gehry-designed Conde Nast cafeteria and produced quarter of a million dollar photoshoots for Vogue. I've served food to the homeless in New York and delivered meals to the housebound in DC. I've run a half-marathon in Birmingham and been encouraged to 'keep up the good work' by a white-haired old man as he hauled by. I've toured the Three Gorges in China before the dam raised the water level and been told by a Beijing man that it is the Southern Chinese who eat 'little brown spotted dogs'. I've danced in the Orangerie at Versailles to Jimmy Buffett beneath a statue of Louis XIV singing 'Here Comes the Sun'. I've watched President Bush put his hand on Putin's shoulder and call him 'my good friend.' I've watched Russian tanks roll into Georgia on CNN. I've sent a note of condolence to the mother of a friend my age who died in September of a rare neurological disease. I am a great admirer of etiquette because good manners can transform you into royalty but inconsideration makes tatters from glamour. Manners are not a minefield. They are a 'lets try hard to make this other person more comfortable'. The true secret behind lovely etiquette and flawless entertaining is to make an effort. Yes: effort/strain/brawn/sweat/struggle/learn-the-rules/apply-them, and the energy expended absolutely pays off.

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