Stood Up ... Or Not

Was meeting someone at Starbucks tonight. He was somewhat late. While waiting for his delayed arrival, I started wondering how long you're supposed to wait for someone at a Starbucks.

I mean, I remembered that one in college about how if the professor doesn't come in 20 minutes, class is cancelled -- but what's the rule for meeting a (relative) stranger for a cup of joe?

My thinking went something like this: After five minutes of standing there like an idiot, I bought myself a beverage. This was because I figured if I was going to be waiting any significant length of time, I might as well have something to keep my hands busy while passing the time.

At about 10 minutes late, I decided that it would be proper to bail at 15 minutes -- if only I'd given him my cell phone number. Because, really, you can be 10 minutes late without calling, but if you're running 15 minutes late, you should really pick up a damn phone and alert the person you're supposed to be meeting. By that logic, I figure if the dude you're meeting hasn't arrived or called within 15 minutes of the meeting time, you've been stood up.

But as the 15 minute point went by, I rolled my eyes in frustration because I HADN'T given him my cell phone number. And I wasn't sure if 15 was enough. I figured 20 (going back to the college prof. thing) was long enough to wait, phone number or no phone number.

At 20 minutes late, I figured I'd give him another 5 minutes, because I'd hit a lot of traffic on the way, and he probably did too.

At 25 minutes late, I decided I was officially stood up, and sat there swirling the last few drops of my beverage, trying to figure out where I was going to go for dinner.

At 30 minutes late, with one final mouthful of tea on its way down my throat in preparation for my journey to In-N-Out for a sympathy Double-Double, he showed up.

Traffic.