(originally published April 13th, 2005)

I belong to a writer’s group, and this weekend we’re having a writer’s workshop at the local library. It’s been in the newspaper, and we have at least 25 people coming. One of the speakers, a local director, was one of the reasons for the draw. However, today he withdrew from the commitment he made, only saying that he wouldn’t be coming; that was it.

I acknowledge that things happen all the time, and sometimes we all have to break a commitment. But when we make these commitments to others, I feel that there needs to be a bit more consideration for what others might be missing, and at least they deserve some sort of explanation as to why you’re not going to go through with that commitment.

I was reading something earlier tonight where this person had made time out of her busy schedule to review something at another person’s request, and even an hour later that person hadn’t shown up. So she thought that maybe something happened, and that she’d receive an email or a phone call from the person apologizing for missing the appointment, and two days later she hadn’t heard word one.

We live in a fast paced world, and it seems that courtesy and common sense sometimes takes a back seat to rudeness and inconsideration. Think about how upset you get when people take advantage of your time, and try to remember that when it comes to the time and anticipations of others.