Late? Well ... depends on who you're talking to
We asked our readers, how late is late? Here are some of our favourite responses
Right place, right time
I suppose even one minute late isn’t acceptable. There are exceptions though, for special circumstances ... but what if a famous YouTuber had just arrived in Hong Kong and happened to walk past? What if we could have become the heroes of Hong Kong by capturing a thief, but due to someone’s poor time management, we missed these things?
Hillary Lo, 11, Sha Tin College
Follow my lead
I like to be seriously punctual. I am NOT the type of person who arrives late, so I usually reach places pretty early. If you’re the last person there, I would call that late. if you come way after the meeting time, you are late too. And even if you have a valid reason to justify your tardiness, you would be late.
Parul Methi, 12, King George V
You’re only late if you get caught
I think if it’s not your fault, you can be as late as you want. If it is your fault, probably don’t talk, and just go mute for the day. Just don’t get too much attention because it could end up getting you a detention.
Charlotte Choi, 11, Sha Tin College
As long as you can fix it
Late is when there is absolutely nothing you can do to fix the situation. Doing a project and realising when you are presenting that everything was poorly planned? That’s late. Suffering from illnesses because you hadn’t paid attention to your own health? That’s late. So, it’s rarely “too late” to make a positive change!
Rachel Wong, 15, St Stephen’s Girls’ College
It’s an either/or thing
Well, five minutes late is already late. That’s the reason why it’s called late, right? You have to be early or on time, or else you’re late. That’s all there is to it.
Ady Lam, 11, Beacon Hill School
Oh no! Fomo!
Late is when you’ve missed the beginning of something. If you go hang out with your friends and they’ve already headed to McDonald’s to eat while waiting for you, that’s late. If your friends are anything like mine, you’ve probably already missed the birth of an awesome inside joke.
Gabi Leung, 15, Creative Secondary School
Royal time
I try to look at it like Queen Clarisse Renaldi said in The Princess Diaries: “A queen is never late, everyone else is simply early.”
Nicole Tsung, 17, King George V
Fashionably late?
I think that anything more than 10 minutes is showing that you value your own time more than that of the person who’s waiting for you. That being said ... it’s better to arrive late than arrive ugly.
Diva Saha, 16, King George V
Please ex-snooze my tardiness
I think you can consider yourself to be late when you’re supposed to meet with a friend at a specific time, and they call to ask where you are, but you haven’t even left the house yet. Or even worse, they call, but you’re still asleep!
Shayna Sujanani, 17, Island School
Old dogs and new tricks
Late is when you do something after the deadline – even if it’s just a few seconds after. However, it’s never too late to try something new.
Shannon Cho, 17, Hong Kong International School
For next week’s Top 10, tell us: what’s the stinkiest thing you’ve ever encountered in Hong Kong? Send your answer, along with your name, age and school, to reporters.club@scmp.com, and our favourite answers will appear in next week’s Top 10 page!