Time after Time

Until people had watches, time was less precise. In particular, until people had synchronized watches, time was less precise.

Because of this lack of precision, people may have worried far less about being timely. That is, coordinating their activities, and being very precise about it. Often, the less technical a culture, the less they care about time.

Although you can be timely, timeliness, in general, requires a collection of people that value timeliness. Fortunately, official entities worry about timeliness more than the average person. Thus, it helps that trains, buses, and airplanes are on some kind of schedule. Even as people routinely complain about the tardiness of plane schedules, people can plan around that. If a plane schedule was off even by a day or two, you might not consider using a plane to get around.

What does it say about a culture where being on-time is valued, or where it's not valued?

Suppose I tell a friend I plan to meet them at 6:30. They live 10 minutes away. It's 6:15 and I have just reached home. I might decide that I need to do something in one or two minutes, and immediately head back out.

Another person from another culture might not like this kind of constraint. Some people find freedom in not doing things. You want me at 6:30? Maybe I'll be there. Maybe I won't. 7:00 is fine. 7:30 is fine. Maybe I don't even show up.

They might decide they are home, and they want to check what's on TV, or fix something to eat. They don't like the idea to have to get out in a minute.

I remember I'd want to pick someone up to go out and do something. I would generally drive to her place, and expect she'd be out there waiting.

Except, culturally, she might think that most people, possibly including herself, would never be on time. That if a person say they'd be there at 6:30, then that didn't really mean 6:30. 7 was fine. If that's your view of the world, you won't sit outside waiting for half an hour or more.

Instead, you'll just carry on, generally getting prepared, but otherwise, doing what you might do otherwise if you had no other plans. Then, when the person shows up, ok, maybe then you'll really get ready.

But of course, now you're making the other person wait, but then they made you wait too, so you decide to be gracious, invite them in, and then prepare. After all, why the rush?

And it all comes down to timeliness.

A culture that values timeliness would perceive this differently. The Germans are known for being prompt. When you value timeliness, you view the world differently. You expect the world to be timely too. The buses, the trains, etc. have to be on-time. You value being on time. More importantly, if others are not on-time, you are angry at them. You decide to punish them. If they aren't there on-time, you will wait only a minute or two, and then simply leave.

Traffic? You should have anticipated it. You should have called. You should be willing to come half an hour early.

I recall hearing about a professor who went to Brazil to teach from the US. He found the students would routinely come in half an hour late. But then they'd expect to talk to the teacher up to an hour after the class ended. He'd be itching to get out of there.

Another person told me that one day, he ran through the pouring rain to teach African kids. When he arrived, no one was there. When the rain let up, all the kids arrived. The rain was considered enough of a hindrance that the average kid would stay indoors. Maybe there was a safety reason. Maybe it was simply discomfort of rain. Regardless, there were excuses of why people should or should not show up.

Usually, timeliness means that certain events occur rain or shine. There are races that are held outdoors, rain or shine. Why? Because people travel from out of town. Because people have made other plans. Because it's too hard to continuously reserve a location until the weather improves.

It might be argued that certain events can't occur if such constraints don't occur. If you get lax about when an event happen, then certain other things can't happen, and eventually, the idea of the event itself becomes ludicrous.

Is timeliness important for a society to excel? I suppose it depends on what is meant by excel. Often, we trade off time with our friends, time with our family, for getting things done that society wants done, i.e., having stores open, having technology made, and so forth.

If you're the kind of person who shows up on time, what do you think of people who don't? If you find yourself routinely 10, 20, 30 minutes late (isn't it strange how people who are routinely late claim they are less late than they usually are, and if they show up on-time once in three times, they think they only infrequently show up late?), what do you think when others complain? Do you feel in control by being late?
Is lateness overrated?