Charlie likes to meet people for breakfast, usually starting at 7:30 AM. I remember the first time I had breakfast with him. I arrived on time and found Charlie sitting there, finished with the day’s newspapers. It was only a few short minutes before 7:30, but I felt bad letting an older man I respected wait for me. For our second meeting, I arrived about fifteen minutes earlier and still found Charlie sitting there, reading the newspaper. For our third meeting, I arrived thirty minutes earlier and Charlie was still reading the newspaper, as if he had been waiting there all year round and had never left the seat. At the fourth meeting, I arrived an hour early and sat there waiting at 6:30 AM. At 6:45, Charlie strolled in with a pile of newspapers and sat down, not even looking up, completely unaware of my existence. Thereafter, I came to understand that Charlie always arrives early for meetings. However, he does not waste time either, because he reads the newspapers he brought along. Now I also arrive early, with a newspaper in hand, to keep him company until we start our breakfast meeting at 7:30 AM.
Occasionally, Charlie may be late. Once I was to introduce a young Chinese entrepreneur to him, and Charlie ran half-an-hour late from another lunch meeting. The moment he arrived, Charlie apologized profusely for being late and explained in detail what had caused his delay. During the conversation, he even proposed a few methods to improve the valet parking system to be more efficient so as not to cause customer delays with a 45-minute waiting time. This young Chinese man was both surprised and touched as he could hardly imagine anyone in the world as well established and regarded as Charlie that would keep apologizing to a junior for being late.