Is There Ever an Excuse for Lateness?
I have struggled with chronic lateness my entire life. I find it extremely difficult to be on time, regardless of the importance of the event or how excited I am about attending. My perpetual lateness is a legacy of my undiagnosed ADHD. I was frequently berated for my perceived lack of care, and internalised that my inability to be on time must be a personality flaw.
Overcompensation
The closest that I came to managing it was overcorrecting through anxiety to be extra early. This seemed to make other people happy, but it caused a lot of issues for me.
If I had an appointment, I would go into 'waiting mode’. I literally could not do anything else while preparing for the appointment. Often, I would still be late, or as I like to refer to it as, 'last minute’.
I could have all the time in the world and could plan out my time down to the second, and still be late. Eventually, I got it down to an artform. I would be 'almost' late to everything. So, I would have all of the panic and rushing and stress of being late, but would arrive with seconds to spare. Technically on time, but still perpetually late.
Compromise
This seemed like a good compromise. I didn’t inconvenience anyone but myself. Navigating a neurotypical world, I have found that…
