mahogany | (no subject)

I used to be prompt and thought it was a virtue, then I had a child. Now, I am happy to get anywhere on time.
I can blame it on James because I am NEVER late for work, just for everything else :P

That sounds so much like me! I manage to make it to work on time, but that's about it. I've been getting better though. I've been making a conscious effort to be more organized and leave myself enough time to get places without being in a constant panic.

I've found that different people have different expectations, and that can cause confusion.

But generally, for a dinner party, a time is more specific, and for somethign more casual like a BBQ, the invite might be "swing on by Saturday afternoon" (and anytime that afternoon really is fine).

If in doubt, perhaps risk manage by inviting people to arrive before dinner is perfectly timed to come out, (I think that's why appetisers were invented) and considering what you know about the invitees puncutality when giving them a time (sometimes you can invite people who are always late to a time 1/2 hour earlier than everyone else).

ROFLMAO - People have actually pulled that stunt with me. The last few times I've shown up at friend's places exactly at the time they asked and they were totally shocked. One in fact, flat out told me that she had told me to arrive at 5:30 because she actually wanted me there at six , and she knew I was punctuality challenged.

My results do not apply for Filipino parties where people show up on "Filipino Time" - which is 2 hours late.

Not joking.

Heh, heh. Filipino time sounds an awful lot like Trinidad time. :-)

I said I was punctual but I probably should have said working on it. I used to be obsessively punctual, so much so that a friend of mine actually complained about it once. Of course, she was from Brazil and always reminded me about American time and Brazilian time. Since having kids, though, my punctuality has slipped. I am usually about 10 minutes late and generally okay with that except for doctor's appointments and the like.

Yeah, it's tricky to time it all, but I usually aim to have drinks chilled and ready and non-perishable appetizers on the table a 1/2 hour before anyone shows up, and hot appetizers in the oven right at the time on the invite. People don't expect to eat anything major the minute they come through the door, but they do expect drinks and munchies immediately. Then once there's at least a few guests, I bring out all the appetizers. If it's a dinner party, I would wait for everyone on the guest list to arrive before I served dinner, which would then make everyone pissed as hell at the super late people, who should really freaking call ahead to let you know to eat without them. (Or in the case of my sister, call when she's already 15 minutes late to let me know she's now leaving the city, an hour's drive away, and then get offended when we eat without her because duh, we're not about to wait another hour for our dinner.)

But then, I'm chronically late. I've never been on time for anything, and early? EARLY? Who comes to stuff early? :P At Thomas day we were on the train and the conductor said, "Well, we're all loaded but Thomas has a few more minutes to wait before he pulls out of the station, because being on time means more than not being late...it means not leaving early, too!" I was like, right on brotha! Preach it!

Heh.

I looked at the times as if I was doing the inviting, in which case I would tell people to arrive at least 1/2 hour to 1 hour before I planned to serve a meal (not that I've had the opportunity to do anything of the sort in many years!). I might say, 'come at 6, we plan to eat at 7 o'clock', so they couldn't be too upset if we started without them. I, personally, always like to know when the food is being served!
I would be very surprised if anyone arrived early, but would have a different reaction, depending who it was (whether they would offer to help or expect to be catered to from the moment they walked in)...now that I think about it, I can't think of anyone I would invite to something now that would annoy me in that way...hmmm...
I have actually become much more punctual since having kids, but I'm not judgmental of others' tardiness [;)] unless they are making me late as well!

I hope that made some sense - speaking of being late, I might be in the morning. I think I was served regular coffee instead of decaf at dinner tonight!

(Hello, was randomly clicking on people who commented on

zaftigvegan's latest post, and can't resist answering polls about food-related things.)

I live in London, and it's really hard to be on time for things here, simply because the place is so big and public transport so variable. You're generally either 15 minutes early or half an hour late.

I give dinner parties roughly every two months. On the invitations, I put something like "Arrive any time from 6:30pm onwards for drinks and nibbles. The main course will happen around 8pm." People have been known to turn up any time between 6:30 and 9:30; most people arrive between 7 and 8, since 6:30 is a little early for people who're coming from work. This works because it's all very informal - the first few people to arrive get to help me finish the preparations (cutting veg for crudites, sorting out an iTunes playlist, doing any last-minute tidying-up. making me a gin and tonic), I don't generally make anything that needs to be eaten Right Now Or It Will Get Cold And Be Nasty, everything's served "family style" on the table and people serve themselves, I always make way too much food so there's no danger of late arrivals going hungry, and I serve lots of appetisers so there's no danger of people who had an early lunch dying of hunger before the main courses come out.

Dinner party writeups here, if you're interested.

Drooooooool. You sure now how to throw a party :-)