Genetics Will Win Out
My Uncle came out from Wisconsin for a long weekend. Shorty asked me to give him a ride to the airport this morning. As we were chatting post-dinner last night, I asked my Uncle what time he wanted me to pick him up. He said 7 AM. I asked what time his flight left and he said 8:55 AM. My parents' house is 10 minutes from the airport.
I did the math and then added "ish" to every time he said 7 after that. Seriously, on a Tuesday morning the airport is not going to be so busy that you need to get there an hour and 45 minutes before a domestic flight.
He can't help the early thing. It's a Pfister trait. They'd rather be an hour early than five minutes late and they know this about each other. My Uncle's flight in landed 40 minutes early. Shorty was already at the airport waiting for him just as my Uncle expected him to be.
I used to be just as bad. But, with as much air travel as I do now, I've adjusted to being comfortable with allowing less time. No, I don't show up at the gate with 10 minutes left for boarding but I don't need to physically be there more than an hour before my flight. Especially with online check in. It's just not necessary. I add an extra half hour for international travel but I'm not sure I actually need it.
I guess it's because I only have 50% Pfister genes that I've learned to somewhat relax. I've also learned to accept when I'm going to be late even though it still bugs me. Usually, it's when I'm leaving from work when it happens. I get stuck on something or someone wants to talk to me as I'm trying to get out the door and my anxiety level goes up the further the clock moves away from the time I expected to leave.
Besides the compulsion to be early, there's also the rudeness factor of making people wait for you. I really, really hate doing that though I'm usually good with waiting for others as long as they send me a text or call me if it's going to be more than five minutes. Good manners matter.
For the record, I picked him up at 7:03. That was about as "ish" as I was willing to get.
I did the math and then added "ish" to every time he said 7 after that. Seriously, on a Tuesday morning the airport is not going to be so busy that you need to get there an hour and 45 minutes before a domestic flight.
He can't help the early thing. It's a Pfister trait. They'd rather be an hour early than five minutes late and they know this about each other. My Uncle's flight in landed 40 minutes early. Shorty was already at the airport waiting for him just as my Uncle expected him to be.
I used to be just as bad. But, with as much air travel as I do now, I've adjusted to being comfortable with allowing less time. No, I don't show up at the gate with 10 minutes left for boarding but I don't need to physically be there more than an hour before my flight. Especially with online check in. It's just not necessary. I add an extra half hour for international travel but I'm not sure I actually need it.
I guess it's because I only have 50% Pfister genes that I've learned to somewhat relax. I've also learned to accept when I'm going to be late even though it still bugs me. Usually, it's when I'm leaving from work when it happens. I get stuck on something or someone wants to talk to me as I'm trying to get out the door and my anxiety level goes up the further the clock moves away from the time I expected to leave.
Besides the compulsion to be early, there's also the rudeness factor of making people wait for you. I really, really hate doing that though I'm usually good with waiting for others as long as they send me a text or call me if it's going to be more than five minutes. Good manners matter.
For the record, I picked him up at 7:03. That was about as "ish" as I was willing to get.
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