This means that on Wednesday morning and this morning, I made sure I was up early, had taken Paddy for his usual long walk and got myself ready and settled in my counselling room ...
to wait..... and wait.... for inconsiderate people who didn't turn up.
Not that I mind them changing their minds. Maybe they got a better offer elsewhere or something cropped up that meant they had to be somewhere else at the time of the appointment.
What I do mind - and I accept that maybe I need counselling for this! - is that they consider my time of so little importance that they can't even be bothered to pick up the phone and tell me they are not coming, for whatever reason. To me it shows a lack of respect for me as a professional and a lamentable lack of good manners and thoughtfulness, which, sadly, is all too common these days.
Oh, and this afternoon, I raced back from my lunch with friends in Chester to wait in for a tradesman who - guess what? - didn't turn up!