The recent item in these pages mentioning professorial tardiness inspired this rejoinder from Jim in Great Falls, Virginia.
David,
Your story about the leeway given professors for being "tardy" reminds me of the time when I was an associate professor.
One morning arrived at my class almost 30 minutes late due to having had car trouble on the way to the university. I was gratified to find that all the students were still in their seats.
I remarked that I was happy to see they enjoyed my classes so much that they would stay well beyond the five to ten minutes of lateness normally given faculty. But one student piped up and said,
"Oh, it's not that. Your midterm is tomorrow, and we're all here hoping you'll give out a few hints about what we should study tonight ..."