Agreed. If there's one thing employers hate almost as much as no-call/no-shows, it's the guy who's late often enough to remember. One minute, five minutes, a half-hour, it doesn't matter. When you're late, you're late. And employers remember that. Once or twice every few months, that's easy to overlook. I mean, really, a spare occurrence you better be able to chalk up to some freak happenstance. Everyone has hiccups every now and again. But, if you're late a couple of times a month, or even less than every other week, that definitely raises eyebrows, and draws attention.
"I ran out of gas" is never an excuse, unless is money is tight, and your boss sympathizes with that. Even then, don't expect that sympathy to pan out more than once or twice a year. It shows irresponsibility. "If he can't even watch his gas gauge, how can I be certain he's performing the tasks I expect him to? Is he really paying attention? Does he need someone to monitor things he should be fully capable of watching on his own?"
There's a definite trend these days for people to show some sense of entitlement towards their employment, or that mistakes can be overlooked. This is not the case. No one is special in the work-force. There is no merit for "good enough." There is only merit in "damn, that guy is good." If you're "good enough," or on time "often enough," you're not doing enough. You always hang on the line, then.
ed- corrected small line. Employers hate no-call/no-shows more than anything!
