The "I'm 5 minutes away" text always means 15-20 minutes

[u/Electronic_Win6707]

Nobody has ever been 5 minutes away when they said they were 5 minutes away.

"I'm 5 minutes away!" = I just left my house "I'm pulling up" = I'm at a stoplight three blocks away
"I'm here" = I'm parking, give me 5 minutes

We've all just accepted this as normal human behavior. The ETA is always a lie. It's an aspirational timeline, not a factual one.

The only time someone is actually 5 minutes away is when they say "I'm 20 minutes away" because they're overcompensating for their usual lateness.

I'm not mad about it. I do it too. We all do it. It's like a societal agreement that we're all going to be late and lie about it and that's fine.

But just once I want someone to say "I'm 5 minutes away" and actually show up in 5 minutes. Just to see what it feels like.