Diary etiquette
Thursday, 31 August, 2006
Okay, so you and a friend arrange to have dinner together in two weeks' time. Then the week of your appointment rolls around. Do you SMS or call to confirm? “Why do I need to confirm?” thinks I. “She wrote it in her diary same as me—I saw her.”
“But what if she forgets?” thinks the anxious part of me.
“She won't forget—it's in her diary.” And then the part of me which hates SMS-ing/ringing people lets the matter drop.
So we turn up on Gavin and Sarah's doorstep last night, ready to keep the dinner date (and feeling like we ought to because I've cancelled on Sarah several times before), bearing gifts of apple berry cherry juice and vanille Coke, only to find that they had forgotten and were not expecting us.
But, being the lovely and kind hosts they are, they didn't kick us out but gave us the house tour, ordered in, showed us their wedding photos (because we missed their wedding for some reason which I don't remember) and then we had a very pleasant evening playing Settlers of Catan which, unlike the last time I'd played one of the games in the series, didn't go on for four hours. And I won which is a first for me—yay!
Please note: Next time you arrange to do something with me, I am highly unlikely to remind you or call you about it. But I will definitely be there, and if I am not, I will always have a good reason (with the exception of Chinese New Year dinner last year when I forgot to transfer the date from my 2004 diary into my 2005 diary). I've distanced myself from the STABO generation (Subject To A Better Offer) and when I make an appointment, I do my best to keep it. Unfortunately that means I tend to expect the same from you ...
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So we’re on for tomorrow night? Hehehe I was just going to ring you. Can you ring me tonight at home after 8.30pm to discuss? I thought we could meet and do dinner somewhere in the inner west or something (my treat) using my entertainment book.
Cheers,
George
I generally call to confirm, because I’m very wary about getting the date wrong. Even if I did write it down
I’m generally the recipient of the “are we still on?” messages rather than the initiator, but it’s comforting to receive them.
Having not read the diary closely enough, and been double booked - and then choosing one wedding reception over another - I now stick pretty closely to “first booked, locked in”.
I’m neurotic about people forgetting, because I myself sometimes forget. (And accidentally triple-booked myself once. Yikes!) If the other person doesn’t SMS, I usually will