As someone who has been on both sides of the equation I love your advice in this column.

Some of it I’ve done myself — I had a friend who was ALWAYS half an hour late. I would only schedule time with her when I wanted some time to myself anyway — then I enjoyed reading while waiting on her.

I’ve also been the culprit though. There was a time in my life when I was always late because I’d just gone through chemo and radiation and I was still recovering, and it seemed everything took longer than it used to. So for several months, I was always late. Not because I wanted to be, but because it took me that long to adjust to my new reality.

I really appreciated the people who were patient with me during that time period.

Also, from a cultural viewpoint — different cultures have different views of what is polite. Some cultures are very punctual, some are not. When it comes to social situations, I’ll try to account for that and cut people some slack. When it comes to business, not so much.

I always make sure to arrive a few minutes early for business meetings and I expect the same from anyone who wants to work with me.