“Well Played” — Chronically Late Friend Learns From Hostess She Was Given Wrong Reservation Time

A woman who is perpetually late ended up getting slammed on TikTok after posting a video where she discovers that her friends ended up booking a restaurant reservation at one time but informed her that it began a half hour earlier due to her constant tardiness.

The user, who goes by Soup Girl (@soupgirl228) on the popular social media application addressed her friends in the viral clip.

It seems like she's recording her video while walking on the street. She speaks directly into the camera:

"If you're my best friends who just made a reservation for 8:30 and told me 8:00, uh, well played because I just showed up at 8:22 and was like to the hostess, 'Oh, like this table for 8:00,' and she was like 'For 8:30?'"

The hostess went on to congratulate the TikToker for being the earliest one of the group to arrive at the restaurant's reservation: "She was like, 'You're the first one here,' and I was like..." she begins making a noise with her mouth before lifting up her finger in congratulations to her friends who ensured she was making it to dinner at the correct time.

"Well played, well played," she says into the camera as the video ultimately cuts out.

While she was laughing off her lateness in the video, it didn't seem like other folks were really into the fact that she was effectively bragging about being habitually tardy: "Growing is realizing chronically late people are just ✨inconsiderate✨," one commenter penned.

Another said, "Showing up 22 minutes late is wild," stating that it wasn't cool for her to be so late to a dinner reservation.

Someone else replied, "I think that means you’re habitually late. Not something I would brag [about]."

There was one commenter who also expressed their ire for folks who are perpetually unwilling to make sure that they arrive to certain places on time: "I would just stop inviting you. Chronically late people get on my nerves."

Another remarked that this type of behavior is one of the worst "red flags" they've ever encountered, penning, "This is my biggest red flag in a person. Shows they have zero respect for you or anyone else."

Others remarked that they would have just outright stopped inviting their friend if they consistently couldn't make it on time for a function: "They’re better than me because I would just stop inviting you if you were showing up a half hour late consistently."

"From the friend who once started lying about what time to show up: The next step is *forgetting* to invite you," another person replied.

While another person replied, "There's nothing funny about being late all the time. I just don't invite people who are always late anymore."

However, there were folks who argued that "time blindness" is a real thing and they can't help being late. "Comments did not pass the vibe check!! As a girlie w/ADHD time blindness we are TRYING but it just does not happen most of the time."

It didn't take long for this particular thread to erupt into an online dispute as to whether or not time blindness actually exists: "Stop blaming it on BS like tf wrong with you 'ADHD time blindness,' just get ready earlier??" one person wrote.

Another remarked: "How ableist of you, do you just tell other disabled people their disabilities are ‘BS’?"

The Cleveland Health Clinic has stated that while time blindness "isn't a diagnoses or a specific symptom," it's a term that is used to generalize how some folks perceive the passage of time. In a piece published by the clinic, behavioral health specialist Michael Manos commented on this phenomenon.

In short, everyone experiences time blindness in some circumstances, but he does state that folks with ADHD may experience it more than others: "Everybody has time blindness at times. We all can get caught up in something and get ‘in the zone.’ Some people with ADHD, though, are more prone to having difficulty being able to judge how long something will take to do or to lose track of time.”

The reason for time blindness? An individual's inability to differentiate between automatic and directed attention activities. Automatic activities are ones that we naturally find joy, peace, and comfort in doing where it's easy for us to lose track of time. "Directed" attention is engaging in things that you have to do as you aren't programmed to manipulate the mental enjoyment in these things yet.

How do you feel about "time blindness" and friends who are perpetually late? Do you feel like there's ever an excuse because everyone and their mother is outfitted with a smartphone that accurately tells time down the millisecond and is more than likely connected to a navigation application that gives a projected arrival time for when they can make it to a place? Not to mention alarm functions and calendar/notification reminders?