The Five (5) Minute Rule

Tomorrow at 7:00 am we go on a road trip.  

This particular road trip is from the Vancouver, BC area to the Galbraith Mountain Tour, a trail run near Bellingham, Washington.  This road trip will have many unique qualities about it.  These qualities include the route we take, the time we leave, the cast of characters who will be going on the trip and so on. 

I have not been on a road trip with this particular cast of characters.  While I know most of them well, it occurred to me that they may not recognize the same rules of the road that I do.  In fact, there are no official rules of the road for a road trip, rather guidelines that apply to certain people in certain situations.

So that everyone is on the same page and no feelings are hurt, I think it's always important to clarify expectations for a road trip.  As I was writing my friends just now, it also occurred to me that this would be a fun and potentially controversial topic to investigate.  

I could digress and and look at the differences between road trips (e.g. a family trip, a business trip, a running, ski or rugby road trip) but I'll keep this to running.  I could get into issues like the road trip cone of silence or "what goes on the road, stays on the road", but that's an indisputable rule of all of all road trip, so not even open to debate. No, I will clarify the 5-minute rule...

The 5-Minute Rule

Definition:  In the context of a road trip, the 5 minute rule defines the total amount of time that the group will wait for the straggler(s).  

In other words, if the designated departure time is 07:00 as defined by the national radio news or the driver's watch, then the car or the convoy will leave promptly at 07:05.  (Also known as the 10-minute rule, the 7-minute rule, etc. depending on the amount of time the group agrees to wait beforehand.)

Implications:  No matter what the cause, no mater how heart-wrenching the excuse, no matter what the inconvenience caused to the laggard, that person is on their own after 5 minutes.

Yes the 5-minute rule is harsh.  But is making everyone else on the road trip late for their race not harsher?

It pissed me off when I had to drive all of the way to Whistler alone one day when I was 7 minutes late for a ski day departure.  I didn't blame my buddies, though.  We'd agreed to the rule and, being more-or-less responsible adults, we know the consequences.  It is common knowledge that on powder days you have no friends.  I drove faster and actually beat them up the lift because one of their number had to go to the bathroom and another insisted on stopping for coffee en route.  However, I missed the camaraderie of the road trip.

'Snooze, 'ya loose, I say.  The 5-minute rule rules!  

What do you think?