A Day Late and a Dollar Short

In use since at least the Dirty Thirties, the expression “a day late and a dollar short” is weightier than some of its relatives such as “that ship has sailed” or “closing the door after the horse has left the barn”. “A day late and a dollar short” tells us that not only did we put things off too long, but we also failed to put in the necessary effort.

Being “a day late and a dollar short” on a financial commitment back in the mid-twentieth century meant that you were in double default and subject to foreclosure or repossession of your asset. Those were the days before commercial bankruptcies were considered simply a part of the rinse cycle, a clever way to have your cake and eat it, too. “A day late and a dollar short” meant serious trouble, being put out on the street and nobody willing to give you credit or do business with you. If it wasn’t economic death, it was surely a near-death experience.

A fairly modern idiom tells us how to end up being a day late and a dollar short. We get there by “mailing it in” or “phoning it in”, expressions that imply doing the bare minimum to keep from getting fired. Implicit in these terms are the ideas of disinterest, lack of motivation, and not being committed to the task at hand. On the shop floor, the term is “dogging it” or its ruder variant.

In our wealthy western society we can mostly get away with being a day late and a dollar short. So far, that is. The growing phenomenon of homelessness among the working poor may well portend harsher times when “a day late and a dollar short” could impact all of us except the very wealthy. But that doesn’t mean to say that in the reality of life “a day late and a dollar short” doesn’t already hurt us.

“A day late and a dollar short” in our business and professional lives means we get the report out to the client a month after promised, and it’s full of typos and spelling mistakes. In our personal lives it’s always forgetting birthdays and anniversaries and skipping the random acts of love which build relationships. In our professional lives, it’s the equivalent of unmade beds and weeks’ old dirty dishes.

I’ve written much recently about reputation, and there is no surer way to destroy reputation than constantly being “a day late and a dollar short”. Particularly in professional relationships, clients pay attention to not only what you do, but how and when. Excellent work, delivered on or before time, again and again and again, makes you the go-to expert, the one your clients gladly brag about. But when your work is consistently “a day late and a dollar short”, don’t be surprised if clients complain about the work and the fee, spread the word, and destroy your reputation and your business.

Seems simple enough, doesn’t it?