Is it that big of a deal to be a little late?

Lateness is a spectrum. There are different ways we can be late, and they all have different effects. Being 10 minutes late to a lunch with a friend is different than being 10 minutes late to a job interview. And if you're someone who is late to things all the time, you get treated differently than someone who is always on time. It might not be fair, but this is how it works. And lateness varies from job to job. Some jobs don't care if you breeze in when you breeze in, as long as you get your work done. But other jobs can discipline you for being even a couple of minutes late. You have to figure out what kind of job yours is and act accordingly. The person in this story wasn't comfortable with how they were being treated in terms of lateness, and wanted to get to the bottom of it.