They're the ones who are always three hours early to a domestic flight, who show up at conference rooms while the previous meeting is still in progress, and who wind up securing a table for every brunch and happy hour—and then hold it down for hours, of course, while the late people slowly trickle in. (Discover these things that chronically late people need you to know!)
There are some obvious advantages to being an early person. Early people tend to make it to job interviews with time to spare, and their reputations as reliable coworkers and friends are above reproach. But it's not all good impressions and positive feelings for early people. If you're one of them, here are a few things you know, both good and bad, that your chronically late friends will just never understand.
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1. You can blame your mother for this one.
Is being early nature or nurture? Who knows. But if you ask an early person why they're early, they'll probably tell you that it runs in the family.
"My family was the type that felt like 15 minutes ahead of time was on time," says comedian Sue Funke. "We would go to 10:30 Sunday morning mass but always arrive at 10:15 to ensure we got the best pew. We were definitely people who lived by the idea that early bird catches the worm."
"I also think it's sort of hereditary," says editor Sarah Litt. "My grandfather was early for everything, so maybe that's where I got it from."
2. If you’re on-time, you're actually late.
Air Force pilot, Tyler Jones* knows that to be on time, you actually have to be early. "I've been [in the] Air Force for 18 years," says Jones. "If you show up one second late for the flight brief, you don't fly. If you're a student pilot, you fail that ride. Being on time shows respect—for your time and everyone else's—and discipline."
3. OK, so maybe you’re a bit of a control freak.
"Being early helped me so much for job interviews," says Anna Smith*, an HR professional who says that arriving ahead of schedule gives her the feeling of being in control. "It's so great to have the time to calm myself, observe the work environment, and jot down things I forgot."
4. You know with certainty that Google Maps is the best invention of the century.
"The advent of the cellphone and GPS has made life easier for early people," says Smith. "Before, if you guesstimated way too much travel time, you were the weirdo in the lobby for hours who could be [dubbed] a security concern. If there were stores in the area, I'd shop for things I absolutely did not need just to kill time."
5. It’s lonely at the top.
Yes, being early means that she's been able to board earlier flights and been more prepared for interviews, says Funke. But it also means she's had to leave friends behind when they didn't share her philosophy on punctuality, particularly when it involves meeting at the movies, restaurants, and the airport.
There's also the less-than-ideal tendency to arrive awkwardly early to parties, Funke says, inadvertently making the host anxious as they rush to set up.
And being an early person can be a source of anxiety for you, too. "I do get anxious if I am running late, though typically no one else minds because I'm rarely more than five minutes late," she says. "To me, it's a big deal."
6. Feeling bored and self-conscious are second nature to you.
"Usually I find it nice to be early, but if I have nothing to do it can be pretty boring," says Rebecca, a university student. If she's early to a meeting, Rebecca says that she often finds herself "awkwardly waiting outside or somewhere to avoid looking stupid." On the other hand, when she's early for work, she says that she enjoys getting a little pre-work break to relax and unwind before the busy day begins (and look smug when late coworkers rush in).
7. You find late people really, really annoying.
"People who are chronically late seem disrespectful to me, even though it's more likely their nature. Just as being early is ingrained in my nature," says Funke. Litt agrees, adding, "The benefit to being early is that you have time to get coffee, read, dwell and seethe about people who are late—you know, the important things." *Names have been changed.
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