Waiting for Godot: the curse of punctuality

There is a taxi stand in front of my apartment complex, about a half block from the school. It's a busy corner and the most convenient meeting place, whether people are coming from the school, our apartments, or other apartments/neighborhoods nearby. I spend an inordinate amount of my life standing on this corner. 

Last night, as I stood and paced waiting for a rarely late friend (who has full knowledge of this blog post, by the way) I thought about how much I have come to despise this corner. There's no where to sit, little shade, a colony of flies, and often reeks of the nearby dumpster, and yet I often stand there waiting for people for 5, 10, maybe even 20 minutes. With certain people I work really hard to arrive late because I know they have a 90% chance of bring late but it's doesn't always work. If I say I'm going to be somewhere at a particular time I am inwardly compelled to do it. 

It's a tough mental balance, waiting at the taxi stand. On the one hand, I get pretty irritated once we hit the 5 minute mark, and on the other hand, I live in a culture (not just Thai culture, but expat Bangkok culture) where it's kind of okay to be late. I don't want to start out every social engagement irritated, so I try to get over it. I am mostly successful. 

To be fair, I do understand that I am almost freakishly punctual (though really, if you think I'm bad, you should meet the Grampa I inherited it from!) and so I never really mind waiting for people at most other places. I can wait quite well at home or in a comfy restaurant or even at the front of our school where there are shady benches. But oh man, that taxi stand is going to be the death of me!