Dear Blake,

I have been dating my boyfriend for six months, and in many ways he’s a great guy. One thing that irks me, though, is his tardiness. This man can’t show up on time to save his life. I have arrived at his house for a date only to find he has not even arrived at his own home yet. He is usually 30-plus minutes late for our get-togethers at my place, even though he only lives about 10 miles away. I’m annoyed to the point that I may break up with him for this reason only. Is my reaction well-founded?

Signed, Charlene
From Arlington, Virginia

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Dear Charlene,

I find your complaint well justified. The only way you deal with people like that, is give them a taste of their own medicine, and double the dosage. If he doesn’t show up on time, let him see you pull off with a previous boyfriend, that happened to show up, who wants to “rekindle” some old times. Or, start arriving late for things that are important to him, and give him a ridiculous excuse like it took you an hour to adjust your rear view to a level that you were comfortable with before you put you vehicle in reverse. Or maybe, you can tell him you forgot where you parked your car, and it took you a long time to find it… in your driveway. But I think this is the best way to teach him a lesson. If he ever seriously injures himself and needs to be immediately taken to the hospital, tell him you will pull up in front of his place within 10 minutes so he can receive some life saving medical treatment he’ll need, while simultaneously staring at him because you’re only a few feet away from him in the same room, watching him bleed all over the place. And if he doesn’t survive, don’t worry about it, because to be consistent, he’ll probably be late for his own funeral. I hope this helps.

Blake