re: Is timeliness no longer valued at all?

I have some IN GENERAL comments which don't apply to OP's situation.

IN GENERAL, there is a two-way disrespect between employer and employee when it comes to time. My experience is that employers were the ones disrespecting employees' time first. Wasting it on stupid meetings, not rewarding efficient performance, even sacrificing high-performing workers who were insufficiently obsequious for the massive egos of the utterly mediocre useless middle managers under whom they suffered. Eventually you say frick it and throw it back at them. Unfortunately, this has had the consequence of neither side showing initial good faith to the other and just leading off with flagrant disrespect for each others' time and seeing if the other side will tolerate it or not.

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In OP's specific situation though? frick that bitch she's dumb as hell If you need a job then you shouldn't be blowing any opportunity off. I'm not saying be desperate and take the first thing you get, but you'll never know what your options are if you flake all the time... and that's ignoring the specific context where this is by far her best shot at an "in" to a narrow and specific field that she wants to do. That's just mind-numbing stupidity.