You know the drill. Your friend--let's call her Late Lizzie-- says she will be at your place at 9. You watch the minute hand trudge all the way down and around the clock. Soon it is 10:14, and Late Lizzie shoots you a text saying she's on her way. If you think this is a nightmare, I'm going to tell you why you're wrong.
1. You have more time to get ready.
Let's just say, the longer I wait for Late Lizzy, the longer the wing on my eyeliner will be. I will use all the time I can get to fleek the fleek and bake the cake. Late Lizzie better not take too much time though, because I'll be looking less like a bombshell and more like the Joker.
2. You get to practice your patience skills.
No better time to practice relaxation and patience than when waiting for Late Lizzie to finish doing her laundry (or whatever the excuse was this time). Patience is a virtue, so really you should be thanking your friend for allowing you the opportunity to develop such a valuable skill. Just another skill to put on your LinkedIn, and hey! Late Lizzie can endorse it, too.
3. You have extra time to clean your house.
Who says that Late Lizzy is wasting your time? There's no time like the present, so yank out that to-do list and crank out some chores. And if Late Lizzie is visiting you, you have extra time to make sure your place is spotless. If you're like me, those last few minutes before the doorbell rings are a mad dash to make your place presentable. Now you can take a breath, relax, and finish up without breaking a sweat.
4. You can look at the menu and be 115% sure of what you want to order.
Normally you take a while to decide what you want to order. Or you are rushed to pick and haven't had a long enough time to decide what you want. However, since Late Lizzy is late, you have all the time in the world to look over each and every item on the menu. How do your neighbor's meals look? Are the chickens raised ethically? What kind of life did this filet mignon have? Now you have time to actually find out!
5. The waiters might feel bad for you and give you free food.
If you're lucky and look sad enough, the waiters will think you're being stood up and take pity on you. Voila, dessert on the house. Can you fake some tears? Voila, free wine too.
6. Late Lizzie might feel bad and buy you an apology drink.
Late Lizzie knows she can be late some (most) of the time. She's sorry and gets you a drink to apologize. Voila, you have dessert and TWO drinks. It's a good night so far.
7. You love alone time anyway!
No need to act annoyed when you're actually secretly happy! Maybe you'll luck out and Late Lizzy will cancel. Time to start rewatching Game of Thrones.
8. At least you're not the late one.
The good thing about having Late Lizzy as a late friend is that YOU aren't the late friend. No matter how late you are, as long as you're not later than Lizzy, you're all good. And Late Lizzy will never know you're almost always almost as late as her. Yeah, Lizzy, I have been waiting here for a while (a while meaning two minutes). Thanks for asking.
Go and hug the Late Lizzy in your life. It might as well not be you.