English · Dialogue
Dialogue About the Importance of Punctuality
Model dialogue between two friends about lateness and what it really costs.
One friend is repeatedly late; the other explains the cost to himself and to everyone else.
A dialogue between Kamrul and Emon
Kamrul: Emon, you missed the first period again. That is the third time this month.
Emon: The bus was late. It is not my fault every time.
Kamrul: The bus is late for all of us. The difference is what time we leave the house.
Emon: Ten minutes cannot matter that much.
Kamrul: Ten minutes at the start of a class is the part where the teacher explains what the lesson is for. Miss it and the rest makes less sense.
Emon: I had thought I was only missing a register call.
Kamrul: And there is what it costs other people. The teacher stops, everyone turns round, forty people lose a minute.
Emon: Put like that it sounds worse than I imagined.
Kamrul: It is also a habit that follows you. An employer forgives a late bus once; a person who is always late is simply known as unreliable.
Emon: My uncle says the same about his office.
Kamrul: He would. Punctuality is not about clocks; it is about whether your word can be relied on.
Emon: What do you suggest? I am not naturally an early riser.
Kamrul: Aim to arrive fifteen minutes early rather than on time. Then a late bus makes you punctual instead of absent.
Emon: That is sensible. I will try it from tomorrow, and you may hold me to it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Give the late speaker a defence — the bus was late, ten minutes cannot matter — and answer it. A dialogue in which one speaker simply accepts that punctuality is important has no argument, and argument is what makes it readable.
That the first minutes of a class carry its purpose, that lateness costs everyone else time, and that habitual lateness becomes a reputation for unreliability. These are specific consequences rather than the general claim that time is valuable.
Aiming to arrive fifteen minutes early rather than exactly on time, so that a delay makes you punctual instead of absent. Advice that adjusts the plan rather than demanding more willpower is both more original and more likely to work.
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