22 October 2026
Everyone Has a Good Reason to Be Late
You are running seven minutes late. This feels serious enough to reconsider several traffic rules you supported when you left the house.
The car ahead could move closer to the divider. The pedestrian could walk with more purpose. The red light has been red for quite a while, although you only started counting when you arrived.
Then a food delivery rider squeezes through a gap you had decided was too small. A yellow box bounces behind him. You begin a sentence about how these people drive.
Halfway through, you remember the turn you just took.
Someone is waiting for the food he is carrying. Someone is waiting for you too, although they will probably survive another four minutes without your contribution to the meeting. The comparison is inconvenient. You had been quite satisfied with your reasons.
For a moment, the whole road looks different. Everyone appears to be carrying something urgent. A parcel. A passenger. An explanation they consider perfectly adequate.
Your phone lights up. Your own food order is arriving later than expected.
You open the app to check where the rider is. His little scooter has barely moved. You stare at it for several seconds, waiting for him to do something about the traffic.
Perhaps he doesn’t realise you’re in a hurry.