daily discussion post: early or late?

[write_out]

I recently saw this question posted: Would you rather always be 10 minutes late or 20 minutes early? My immediate reaction was 20 MINUTES IS NOT EARLY ENOUGH. 

For as long as I can remember, I've had high anxiety over being late- to class, to work, to a movie, to an appointment, to the airport. If I have to be somewhere at noon, chances are I'm lurking in the parking lot at 11:30 am. If my flight is at 3 pm, I'll be at the airport by 1. It gives me great comfort to be early, to know that I'm where I'm supposed to be with no surprises. I'm lucky in that my husband is similar (although not nearly as fixated as I am), but I have friends who are not as concerned about timeliness (especially when traveling together) and that's caused some stress over the years. 

eta: This has come up comments already and I'm glad: this need to be Early does not apply to dinners/parties unless I've been tasked with helping with preparations. Being too early in that case would stress me out just as much as being way late would!

What about you? Are you an early bird or always running late? Why do you think that is? How does that fit with the people in your daily life?

As an aside, I've been mostly lurking here, but enjoying the posts a lot. Thanks to everyone for the interesting questions/responses you've shared!

Comments

[aome]

The airport is pretty much the ONLY time my SIL is ever on time. Even if she's just the one driving, and not the one traveling, she'll still make sure to arrive at the target time. (Please note: this does not apply to picking someone up - then she's usually late again, so that she's finally arriving by the time you've picked up your bag.)

A friend of mine has high anxiety when traveling; there is no place she'd rather be than at the gate, even if that means being there four hours early.

[write_out]

I have to say, there is something deeply satisfying to me when I get to the airport early. I consider that time the official start of my trip, so I enjoy it. That said, four hours is a bit much even for me!