Time keeping ...

5 hours on a coach - harrumph; I can think of better ways to spend 5 hours, but we've already been on the road for an hour and that seems to have gone quite quickly, so maybe the next 4 won't be too bad. We should actually have been 20 minutes further down the road by now by rights, but we left lat AGAIN because we were waiting for the same people (who have been persistently late on this trip. I'm being fairly chilled about it so far (ie. grumbling has been in my "inside voice" or at least with a select group of people), but it's really starting to p**** me off now.

I can't abide people who are persistently late, it shows lack of respect to everyone else that made it on time and frankly in this case I believe it is nothing more than attention seeking. Everyone has been provided with the same schedule and there is even a notice board in the foyer of each hotel which clearly says when the coach is leaving, but it seems that the announced bus departure time is being treated like some sort of dinner invitation - "0800 for 0830" ...

So, every bloody time, the rest of us organise ourselves so that we're on the coach BEFORE the announce departure time and then sit an wait while a couple of people put on a tedious performance of being ditzy and giggly and turning up repeatedly a minimum of 5 / 10 minutes late. I have no idea why an intelligent adult would want to appear stupid, but that is the act that gets played out each time to an increasingly hostile audience. I'm afraid I think they should be left behind - we'd soon see how organised they could be once they have to get to the next hotel under their own steam and out of their own pocket. And I'm afraid that excuses that they were up late and are tired (giggle, giggle) just don't wash. If you can't handle drinking 'til 3am in the morning and still be on time for the bus, DON'T DO IT!

I mean, for goodness sake, we have to think about precious little on these highly organised trips, so surely doing colleagues and the concert management, who are working hard to get us where we need to be etc, the courtesy of being on time isn't too much to ask ....