爱华网Punctuality is a neccessary habit in public affairs in civilisedsociety.Without it,nothing could ever be broughttoa conclusion,everything would be in a state ofchaos.Only in the spasely--populated rural community is it possiblyto disregard it.In ordinary living,there can be some tolerance ofunpunctuality.The intelectul,who is working on some abstruseproblem,has everything coodineted and organized for the matter inhand.He is therefor forgiven if late for a dinner party.But peopleareoften reproached by their only fault iscutting things fine.It's hard for enegeticle,quicly--minded peopleto waste time,so they are often tempted to finished a job beforesetting out to keep an appointment.If there is nothing ocuer on theway,like purchered tyered,devision of traffic,sudden desent offog,they will be on time.They are more industrios,useful citiziensthan those who are never late.The over-punctual is as much trail toothers as the unpunctual.The guest who arrives half an hour toosoon is the greates nuinsence.Some friends of my famliy have thisirritating habit,the only thing to do was ask them to come half anhour later than other guests,Then they arrivel there just when wewanted them.
If youare catching a train,it is better to be comfortably early thanevena frastrion of a miniute toolate.Althoughbeing earlymightmean waste a littetime,this will be less than if you miss a train and have to wait anhour or more for the next one,and avoid the frustration of arrivingthe station atthe very moment while the train isdrawing out of the station and being unable to get on it.An evenharder situation isto beon theplatform in good time and still to see it go off without you.Suchan experience befell a certain young girl the first time she wastravlling alone.
Sheentered the station twenty minutes before the train was due,sinceher parentes had impressed upon herthat it wouldbeunforgivableto miss the trainandcause her friends with whom she was going tostay to make two journeys to meet her.She gave her luggage to theporter andshowed him herticket.To her horror,he said she was two hours too soon.She felt inher handbagfor the piece of paper on which herfather had wrieen dowm all the details of the journey and gave itto the porter.He aggreed that a train didcomeinto the stationatthetime on the paper,and it did stop,butonlyto take onmail,notpassengers.The girl asked to see the timetable,feeling sure thather father could nothave made such a mistake.Theporter went to fetch one andarrived back with thestation master,who produced it with a flourish and pointed outthere was a microscopic o beside the time of the arrivel of thetrain at the station.The microscopic oindicatedthat the train only stopped for the mail,not passengers.Just atthat moment,the train came into the station.The girl,tears sreamingdown her face,begged tobeallowedto slip into the guards'van.But the station master was adamant,rules could not bebroken.And she had to watch the train disappear towards herdistitation while she was left behind.
