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Lesson 60 Too early and too late 太平和太牝 Punctuality is a n ecessary habit in all public affairs in civilized societ y. Without it, no thing could ever be brought to a con elusion; everythi nq would be in a state of chaos. Only in a sparsely-populated rural community is it possible to disregard it. In ordinary living, there can be some tolerance of unpunctuality. The intellectual, who is working on some abstruse problem, has everything coordinated and organized for the matter in hand? He is therefore forgiven, if late for a dinner party. But people are often reproached for unpunctuality when their only fault is cutting things fine. It is hard for energetic, quick-minded people to waste time, so they are often tempted to finish a job before setting out to keep an appointment. If no accidents occur on the way, like punctured tyres, diversions of traffic, sudden descent of fog, they will be on time? They are often more industrious, useful citizens than those who are never late. The over?punctual can be as much a trial to others as the unpunctuol. The guest who arrives half an hour too soon is the greatest nuisance? Some friends of my family had this irritating habit. The only thing to do was ask them to come half an hour later than the other quests. Then they arrived just when we wanted them? If you are catching a train, it is always better to be comfortably early than even a fraction of a minute too late? Although being early may mean wasting a little time, this will be less in good time for a train and still to see it go off without you. Such an experience befell a certain young girl the first time she was travelling alone. She entered the station twenty minutes before the train was due, since her parents had impressed upon her that it would be unforgivable to miss it and cause the friends with whom she was going to stay to make two journeys to meet her. She gave her luggage to a porter and showed him her ticket. To her horror he said that she was two hours too soon. S