Comment by Waterluvian | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Waterluvian | Hacker News Reader

I don’t like #2 because I hate the game of tricking people to be on time and then people start compensating further and eventually I’m trying to host a Cosmic Comet Party and you’re showing up after the punch has been distributed.

I just like being honest and stripping away the layers of manipulation. “Starts at 2:00. Please be on time. If you don’t want to be the first, show up at 2:10. If you want to come early, we’d love a bit of help with last minute preparation but we won’t be in hosting mode just yet!”

Do I overthink things? Absolutely. Do people comment about how much they love how I strip all the uncertainty and mind games from it all? Yes.

> Starts at 2:00. Please be on time.

This will not work with south american guests. It's a cultural thing, being a little late (but not too late) is cool; being on time seems desperate or too strict.

Sounds like the perfect filter then. I'd rather have people showing up to my party that are interested in having a good time moreso than how "cool" they appear.

I would say personally I don't care if people show up late, but I'm also not going to play scheduling mind games to try to trick them into being there on time. The event starts at whatever time the invitation says. If someone shows up late, I have no sympathy if they are upset that they missed the beginning. But I'm not going to be mad they didn't show up right on time, either. It's ultimately their problem, not mine.

That's ok. It's all a matter of how far you're willing to go to accommodate your friends' cultures. Inversely, they could give an american/european a later time to arrive, because they know you'll be punctual, but would like to spare you from being awkwardly sitting alone for half an hour. Or they could not.

I like the :45 thing because it's not even dishonest. You just start the party at :45.

"Be there at 2:00 or the good food will be gone."

Reply on news.ycombinator.com