Seven things you’ll understand if you’re always late.

Image via 20th Century Fox.

There are two types of people in the world – those who are on time and those who are NEVER on time.

There are people in the world forever looking at their watch waiting for someone to arrive to meet them. And there are people who are constantly looking at their watch, thinking ‘crap how the hell am I this late. Again.’

If you fall in the latter category (as I do) then you understand the struggles. You understand the feeling of running out the door, bag in one hand, shoes in the other, keys in your mouth, while also holding an extra makeup stash so you can finish getting ready in the rear view mirror when you stop at the traffic lights.

If you’re an ‘always late’ person then here’s what you’ll understand…

1. Time always defeats you.

You set your clock back by 15 minutes and your friends and family tell you to arrive somewhere half-an-hour before an event actually starts, but somehow you’re still never on time. The problem is, you know the real time and you know that you’ve been told to arrive early and you always leave everything until the last minute, so time always defeats you.

2. You leave the house with wet hair and makeup half done.

Leaving the house with wet hair is a struggle (especially in winter). “I’m just on my way,” is always code for, “I’m still trying to put the GHD through my hair.” You have an obnoxious amount of makeup products in your car because you have to do your face while sitting at the traffic lights. And you have a load of shoes in the boot of your car for the times you flee out of the house shoeless.

3. Traffic is your arch nemesis.

You always wildly underestimate how long it will take you to get to places (even if you’ve been a thousand times before). You tell people that you’re five minutes away when you are, in fact, 15 minutes away. In saying that, traffic can sometimes genuinely thwart your efforts of being on time. It’s out of your control of course.

4. There’s no point in being the first one there.

If you’re invited to a party, no one wants to be the awkward person trying to strike up small talk with the other awkward ‘early attendees’. If an invitation says 7pm start, doesn’t that really mean 7:30/8? Although, if you do arrive somewhere on time (or early) you do feel incredibly smug, especially if you arrive before the person you’re meeting. But then, if you arrive first, there’s no one around to see it and you get no gratification for being early or on time. No point.

5. You know frustration far too well.

You’re (as much as your ‘on-time’ friends won’t believe it) frustrated at yourself every single time you’re flying frantically out the door. You’re also annoyed that you’re irritating someone else because you’re late. Again. And then there’s the frustration you get when you apologise and your friend doesn’t take it as sincere because you run late over and over again – so you can’t be that sorry. (But we really are guys). (Post continues after gallery.)

6. Losing or misplacing things.

The amount of times I have tried to scoop my phone out of my bag only to have a mini heart attack because it’s not in there, and I have definitely lost it for the umpteenth time. But I haven’t really because it’s right where I put it – next to me in the car. I’m in such a rush that I chuck my phone down without thinking and then never remember where I’ve put it. Or when you finally race out the door, feeling like you may actually arrive on time only to realise you’ve left the keys inside…

7. You want to change and you believe you will one day.

Your on-time friends say to you, “I cannot understand how you’re late all the time,” and “I hate it when other people are late. I think it’s rude and wastes my time.” But you promise you’re trying. Sometimes you take separate cars if you’re going in a group, so you don’t hold other people up. You try to trick yourself in to being on time and you try to be more organised. But you just know your good friends will always add an hour when they give you a time to meet. Maybe one time, you’ll be the one waiting for them…

What do you think about people who are always late? If you’re one of them, what did we miss?

This article originally appeared on The Motherish. You can read the original article here.