I'm always on time - it's one of those things that defines me. I hate being late for a meeting with someone - I think it's one of the rudest things you can do and yet it happens all the time. In the real world there are so many variables - particularly when you're interacting with human beings that it's a miracle we actually get anywhere. Regardless of human efficiency - shit just happens - buses break down - washing machines break and dogs do actually eat the homework. One bump in the chain gets magnified so that one person's spilled coffee becomes another's late arrival to an interview. This as you can imagine could lead to much stress for those of us who like to control our world a little more than others. My solution?
Music and Forgiveness
Let's deal with Forgiveness first.
If it has actually happened, i.e. you or someone you are waiting to interact with is late - accept that there is nothing you can do about it and forgive the cause. This relieves you of any necessity to a) get angry with anybody - never a good strategy and b) Get mad at yourself - also not terribly smart if you're looking to give a good impression.
(Quick caveat here: If you're a lazy bastard who thinks the world should provide for you - if you are a wanker not a worker - then none of this applies. Get as mad with yourself as possible - you suck!)
Next - once you realize that you are somewhere, waiting and there's nothing you can do and it's no longer anybody's fault - you can choose to do anything you want. You see, this is stolen time, this is time that was unplanned, unforeseen and therefore doesn't need to be accounted for.
If you're lucky enough to have a music player with you - now is a great time to plug in and listen to all that great stuff you've been downloading but yet to hear - hell if you've got a smart phone then maybe plug in the headphones, fire up the music2work2 writer's play list and write a blog post.
That's what I've just done ;-)