I’ve punched in late twice this week, and while that may be partially my fault, I still can’t help being a little pissed off at the circumstances surrounding my tardiness. (This is also known as the pass-the-buck defense. Ü)

THURSDAY MORNING: I left the house at 8:20am but was confident that I could be at work by 9am sharp. After all, I was going to use a route that by that time would not be an exhaust-choked parking lot for fuming drivers. Or was I?

I sped along merrily and was in the general area of my office building by 9:55am. All I had to do was make one u-turn at the intersection of Ortigas and Roosevelt and I would be home-free. And that would take what, three minutes tops?

Some genius (note the sarcasm) thought it would be great to lay cement on Santolan Road and block off an entire lane during rush hour on a weekday. This caused the traffic to back up all the way to my little u-turn, and it took me a friggin’ 20 minutes to get from one side of the road to the other. I was stranded right in front of my office roaring in frustration because I could have turned the engine off and made a mad dash across Ortigas to punch in.

THIS MORNING: Only a few of you may be aware of this, but I’m required to report for work on Saturday mornings. This morning I took my damn sweet time getting ready because my mom had checked us in to Crowne Plaza, a mere 10 minutes’ drive to the office. Of course, I forgot to factor in unexpected delays, like the slowdown in traffic on EDSA because part of the road was closed off for cementing. I timed in a mere 2 minutes after the grace period for lateness expired, which is more irritating than being a clear 15 minutes late.

I should learn my lesson (and it’s a painful one because I’m gonna get fined for being late). More road-blocking road-building projects from incumbent officials looking for reelection are inevitable. While roads being closed off may be out of my hands, at least I can spare myself some stress by giving myself some lead time getting to work.

Tags: Late, Workplace Woes

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