This is largely a cultural thing. I've been on both sides having lived in the South East U.S. where being late is considered the rudest thing you could possibly

This is largely a cultural thing. I've been on both sides having lived in the South East U.S. where being late is considered the rudest thing you could possibly do and on the West Coast where everyone lists their dinner party 1 hour early and if you show up "on time" you're the only one there...and the host is surprised. What I've learned is the rigor of adherence to punctuality is directly related to the difficulty in being punctual in that area. For example, in most places in the S.E., Midwest, etc. it takes about 1 hour to go 60 miles. The only thing that slows you down getting across town are red lights and stop signs. That's it. Even in large cities "known" for horrible traffic conditions, I've been able to get across the entire city in a reasonable amount of time fairly consistently. In other words, it's trivial to be punctual. And so punctuality is taken as a sign of respect. On the West Coast, this isn't the case. It can literally take 45 minutes to an 1 1/2 hours to get 5 miles in L.A. by car. And that's during normal traffic conditions. If absolutely anything happens on that route, you could walk faster. In fact, my wife and I have done just that on a 5 mile commute in L.A. when traffic would lock up. Park the car, get out, and walk. Take the early bus and pick it back up in the morning. Let that sink in for a bit. You've got a meeting. It's only 5 (or god forbid 10) miles away. Anything even slightly irregular happens, and it could take you hours to get there. Starts making "minor" delays of 5 to 10 minutes or even 30 seem pretty trivial. Cancelations happen much more frequently. Sorry, buddy, someone had a flat. Can't make it today or it'll take me 3 hours to get there. That's why out east, companies would dock workers if they clocked in 5m late. Out West work hours are more like "ohhh, sometime between 8:30 and 9:30 is when so-and-so shows up." It's not because they're lazy or inconsiderate or rude. They're probably getting up at 5am just to make the commute.