Yes and no.

Sending them home for being 6 minutes late is totally overkill (unless it's something that has occurred many times, and there have been warnings).

Quitting for being sent home for a day also seems like an extreme reaction, though, especially if you like the job otherwise.

I wouldn't call it time-fetishism, and I wouldn't say it's something limited to "older folks," that seems particularly unfair. I'm 24, and when people couldn't be bothered to show up on time, I was bothered by it as well. And I'm a developer. I know that it's not vital that "you be in by x-o-clock or no work will be done for the day," but it definitely creates a stigma toward the individual who roles in later than the rest of the team.