Representational image. (By lookstudio on Freepik)

They talk about Generation Z not knowing the value of being on time. Apparently, those surveyed felt that being 10 minutes late was as good as being on time for work. But is this really just a thing amongst the Generation Z crowd? Or is it a cultural thing too? It can be a cultural thing. In some cultures showing up late for an interview or even your job is quite normal. And sometimes not showing up at all is also normal for them. In some cultures it is expected and those who frown upon it are considered the weirdos. I’ve had staff turn up late on me with unbelievable excuses. I’ve had staff not turn up to work at all because of a sick child (and this was once every single week, without fail) for at least 6 months, that is until we had a word with her.

Many years ago, I had arranged to meet a former colleague because he needed to pick something up from me. I waited at the meeting point for over 45 minutes and he didn’t show up. We again arranged for a meeting and this time he did show up, but late. When I asked what had happened yesterday, I was aghast by his response. He said he didn’t like to keep appointments. And this was a grown man in his late 30s.

Another time, someone wanted to meet me at a coffee shop in a shopping mall far from my home. It was about a potential consultancy role so I was very interested. I got there early but I was left standing around for over 2 hours without a word. Again I was given some unbelievable excuse but it was enough for me to realise that I wouldn’t want to work for someone who disrespected me in that way; someone who thought his time was more important than mine.

But those who are persistently tardy, or absent from work or meetings, etc. are actually disrespecting those who are on time and who do keep appointments. When anyone was late to school I had a school principal who said that a miss was as good as a mile. Late is late, whether you’re 1 minute late or an hour late. It’s late. I personally think that my university professor’s tactic for dealing with late arrivals to his class worked a treat.

He’d kick them out of the lecture so they were not only embarrassed but lost the chance to take notes.  Then they had to go round begging their classmates for them, often being declined. This stopped them being late or stopped them interrupting a class full of students who were on time. This was back in the 70s and 80s. Often the late arrival had a very good reason and they were a rarity.

Today it’s not rare at all. Young people have an air of entitlement about them. They’re rude, disrespectful and so full of themselves that they’ll even go so far as redefining what is normal. They think that if they’re 10 minutes late then, within reason, they are on time. No they’re not. If an accurate clock says 1pm, can we say it says 1.10? No.

In addition to all this madness, young people of today also have a strange notion of what they can do with their lives. Many think that they can earn a lot of quick money by not even working a full day’s job. So where do they get that idea from? Well, the moment you open your social media feed, or your news feed on your phone, there’s always some headline saying ‘how I made 300k in one month with just this side hustle’.

A side hustle is great but by the very context in which this term is used, it implies that you have a full time, steady job and, if you have time (at the weekends for example), it’s okay to have that extra income from an extracurricular activity. But young people don’t seem to be planning on finding a proper job. They think that if they find a get rich quick scheme it will make their lives stable. But it might not.