Daily Cascade

Too Early or Late

Prompt:
"Better 3 hours too soon then a minute too late."
William Shakespeare.
Write about this quote in your Blog entry today.

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I believe this quote is from the Merry Wives of Windsor uttered by a secondary character, a young boy servant. Although this character isn't essential to the plot, what he has said might have some clout.

As a servant or a page, he (William Page) probably knew the importance of being on time and being prepared in advance. Even if the margin between an early arrival and a late one can be small or as exaggerated as this character says, it shows respect for the other people's time and schedules. Moreover, being early avoids the negative results of lateness for it gives one time for getting ready and being flexible.

In my opinion, however, arriving three hours too soon is overdoing it. On the other hand, lateness may mean missing opportunities and important information, plus being unreliable and causing delays.

I'd say why not be on time, then, or maybe five or ten minutes early? I think that would be a smarter strategy.