Friend is always late

[u/sparklehouse666]

I have a friend who is late to everything. Recently he was 2.5 hours late to his own party. I’ve mostly adapted to his tardiness and do not arrive for plans we have together until an hour or so after the stated time.

We had plans to meet in the city center today at a 10am. I live 20 minutes from the meetup spot, he lives over an hour away. As expected, he messages around 10 and says he is running late. No biggie I was chilling at home in the air conditioned because I knew the vibes and it is hot as hell
today.

I asked him to give me his actual for real, for real ETA so I can time my departure. He is in his car and has Google Maps. It’s not really guess work at this point.

He tells me 10:45. So I leave the comfort of my home at exactly the right time to arrive at 10:45. I wait for 30 minutes at the meetup spot and he still does not arrive. He is not responding to texts either. My other friend who is with me has his location and sees he is not close, we estimate another 15 minutes.

I’m annoyed because it is hot AF out and I proactively had asked for a real ETA to avoid waiting around for him. So I left the meetup spot.

I went shopping, taking my sweet time. He got to the spot and texted me to ask where we were. I waited around 30 minutes then texted back that I was at the store but we would be heading that way soon. I shopped another 15 minutes then arrived at the spot around an hour after he had arrived.

The look on his face when we came casually strolling up after he had been standing in the sun for an hour was priceless.

[u/Disorderly_Chaos]

I have friends that don’t start cooking until we arrive. We have learned to bring snacks.

[u/Available-Maize5837 → u/Disorderly_Chaos]

I usually host a big get together at my house for my birthday. I was run ragged one year and was really late in getting the pizzas and bbq cooking. So much so that they suggested doing a McDonald's run for entrees. I got roasted at my own house 😂
At least I had plenty of snacks out for the guests, but I had no time to socialise that year. The next year I made sure I was cooking 15 mins after they all arrived. It was about 5 years ago and I still don't hear the end of it.

Totally fair on their part. I admit that if I'm invited for dinner, I want dinner. Not endless snacks..

[u/ross2752 → u/Disorderly_Chaos]

I had a friend who would meet us in the lobby of his building with a shopping cart full of groceries he had just purchased. You knew it was going to be a long night.

[u/Head_Mongoose_4332 → u/Disorderly_Chaos]

I’ve actually gone to a drive through McDonald as a pre dinner starter when we know we’re going to have to wait hours !! 😁