Before getting around to the answer to this question, first, what does punctual mean? No, I assure you, it does not mean using question marks, commas and exclamation points in the right places. That is proper usage of punctuation and while that is a very important part of communication, it is not what this topic is about.
Being punctual simply means being on time for whatever engagement you have agreed to arrive for. On time, not two hours late, not thirty, ten or even one minute late. You don't have to be an hour early, but if you are even one minute late, then you are not on time.
So, what? You're a few minutes late. Who cares right? It's not that big of a deal is it? Well that depends on what kind of message you are attempting to send the person you have the agreement with.
See, most people spend nearly the entirety of their life attempting to increase the amount of money that they have. We all have monthly bills and it seems like money is a limited commodity. It isn't though. Through creativity and hard work you can acquire more and more money. Even so, there is more money in the world than you could ever hope to accumulate. And even if that weren't the case, we can always just print more. Money is nothing but a symbol.
Time on the other hand is different. There is an infinite amount of time, but not for each person. Each person only has so much time in their life. Whether you measure it in breaths, heartbeats or minutes, a person will only ever have so much.
And every moment that a person wastes waiting for you to show up is a moment that they cannot get back no matter what happens. You can offer to "make it up" to them but there is truly nothing a person can offer that is equal to not having that time anymore. So, every single time that you are late, you are stealing time from someone else. You are stealing life, just like a vampire, but without the fangs.
Not only that, but you are telling the other person just how selfish you really are. You are telling them that you don't care about them and what matters to them. You are telling them that whatever it is that you are doing that is making you late is more important than whatever it is that they wanted to do.
Is being punctual important? I can't decide that for you. I guess it depends on what kind of message you want to send to others. For me it is important. Theft of vitae + massive disrespect seems like a recipe for loneliness to me.
To be fair, life is complicated and it is not always possible to keep your commitments exactly as they are scheduled. But if one event is running over and keeping you from the next thing that you are supposed to be doing, common courtesy is to let the next person waiting on you know what is going on and whether or not to still expect you or if you need to reschedule, before you are late not after.
