The price of being late

Being early for work every morning is always a challenge for anyone who has a strict employer. In addition to the bad reputation at work, the cost of being late can be hidden as well as obvious. When I mean costs, I mean the actual money lost and not the emotional distress etcetera etcetera...

The hidden costs can be as drastic as losing your job (thousands of dollars of salary) or as minor as losing a few cents from your paycheck. The obvious costs include the actual tangible money lost on the day of being late. In my world, the cost of being late increases exponentially every minute I am late. My increase is costs is as follows:

Late by 5 minutes: 40cents on food where I have to buy breakfast at a more expensive cafeteria rather than my regular stop which is a little out of the way.
Late by 10 minutes: 40cents (food) + 1 dollar on transport where I take an additional bus to reduce the walking distance from the bus stop to my office building
Late by 15 minutes: $8.40 on taxi. And forget about breakfast...
Late by 30 minutes: $25.00. How? Called in sick. The $25.00 is payment for the Medical Certificate at the local clinic.

In truth, people know the tangible costs involved because they are felt everyday. The mind makes the effort to avoid them even though we ourselves are unaware that we are doing so. The early morning sees people rushing to work because they realize the costs involved. But they don't realize that it's an unconscious decision. I mean the brain's dead in the morning anyway. Most people are practically sleepwalking themselves to work for crying out loud. I know it because I do it. I wake up....and the next thing I know, I'm work...and I have no idea how I got there. So if this is you, rest easy as you're not alone.

Some people tend to be alright in spending the "late fees" everyday. Unfortunately, too bad for them, they're unemployed. Or they're filthy rich (lucky sunofaguns). For the rest of us who fall into the category of "Not being ok paying the late fees", this is a lot of dough. Which for me, now that I know my price for being late, means that I'm NEVER going to be late again. Then again, maybe not...