the other category is
- intending to get drunk
I have wondered sometimes if (in some strange universe) there were no laws against drink-driving, would the railways see a noticeable dip
You'd see a tiny dip, I suspect, but most people tend to have a vested interest in not wrapping their car around a tree, and tend to be aware of their own abilities.
That said, the old timers at my old takeaway and even from an online forum for a video game I played (a naval themed one, we had lots of old fellas there) made claims that they "drove better after one or two drinks". Methinks they didn't notice their mistakes and swerving, and were lucky to be talking to me in the shop instead of in a box 6 feet under.
When it comes to nights out, a delay isn't so crippling; you just catch the group up at the next pub on the list.
Sounds like you work for a toxic employer.
Said company is a Network Rail contractor, I'll say no more. They're not a perfect company, but I'd hardly call them toxic.
Because it's just not necessary to be bang-on punctual in an office environment. I've worked with a guy who never came in at 9 but would still be there at 8pm many days - he was excellent so we just treated it as one of those things.
9am meetings are barely a thing anyway, people want time to get settled with a coffee first. 9:30 is the earliest I usually see.
Obviously it depends a lot on the nature of the work. But disciplining people because of their rail service having a bit of a bad spell isn't being a good employer, particularly with people whose service is infrequent so just getting a train or two earlier isn't a viable option (so most of the north). Totally reasonable to want the time made up though.
And if we're specifically talking about long distance commuting, i.e. weekly commuting, a very common pattern is that on a Monday people don't arrive until maybe 10 or even 11 but don't take a lunch break that day and make the time up by working slightly longer days, similarly typically leaving around 2-3 on Thursday and working Friday from home. As long as the hours are put in it works fine in an office/professional environment.
Sounds like differing policies. Mine has a core hours policy of 9-3, and unless you are
literally the only specialist in a certain discipline, they tend to expect you show up at 9 at the latest. 9am meetings are atypical but not unexpected; it's meetings on Friday post 3pm that are the big no-no.
In my experience of such people, it is tolerated - just - by others because they invariably expect those who get in at a sensible time to be available in the evenings for their meetings. In other words, a one-way street.
Must be a pretty slack place! In my experience, 9am meetings are absolutely normal and regular. Indeed, meetings anytime from 8am are quite usual.
When I was seconded to Cardiff, their office culture was one of 8am starts! I'd be regularly catching the 7:30 service from Central to Taff's Well. Tbf that was usually on time, and there were only 1 or 2 instances where it was heavily delayed. But the long journey down to Cardiff in the first place was a unique hell.
