As a child of parents unable to arrive anywhere on time, Laura Beaumont rebelled in adult life. She became pathologically punctual. It was who Laura's daughter caused her to think again about early ways " Mummy, why is it at the beginning of every party I have to sit on my own watching Smarty Arty changing into his funny trousers?".
Friends (when they turned up) advised Laura on how to become one of The People Who Forgot The Time. "If you have a cluster of things, you can do them much more efficiently when you should be somewhere else. You're stealing other people's time. Just become more thoughtless and that'll make you really late"
But what, Laura asked, is it like being the partner of the punctually challenged? Baz according to Roz is always "sitting in the car tooting whilst she's running up and down in the house, picking up after everyone" But why choose that particular time to tidy up, Baz wanted to know, "It's terribly stressful, she cuts it really fine."
Ren, on the other hand, accepts that his partner Nim "couldn't be early if she tried."
Although Laura's own relationship with Nim was a little strained after crouching behind a sofa with 16 other people waitng for Nim to turn up for her surprise party. She was two hours late. By that time 'Surprise!' was not the word on Laura's lips .
Continuing her research, Laura spied her next door neighbour's mother, Audrey, sitting alone in her car in her son's driveway. Fascinated, Laura asked what she was doing. Audrey's reply "I'm just waiting here until it's time to go in. I'm quite daft, if I have to get a train at 11 o'clock, I get there at before the 10 o'clock train goes and sit and have endless cups of station coffee." Laura recognised a soulmate.
