Always Arriving Late, On Time...

Yeah Right!

In this world, there are two types of time: regular time and Antiguan time, and you would know this if you are a) Antiguan or b) an Antigua resident.

If the invitation to the party says it starts at 7:00PM, don't expect people to show up before 9:00PM...

If you have a meeting at 8:00AM with an executive member of an association, by all means show up early, but don't expect the meeting to start before 8:30AM...

And if the shop sign says "We'll be back at 2:00PM", don't hold your breath...

Of course, there are those of us who cherish being on time and there are organizations such as Women Of Antigua that make no jokes about starting their show at 8:00PM sharp, but generally speaking, and most of the time, Antiguan people are always late. Late, late, late, late, late!

The numbers on the clock always seem to get blurred and although we might be rushing to get where we're going, we just never seem to get there by the prescribed time. This fact has become such a phenomenon in our society that Antiguan time has become an actual measurement of time...





Trisha:         "Bernadette, at what time does the function start?"
Bernadette:  "It starts at 3:00PM, Antiguan time."
Trisha:         "Ok."

Translation: The function will start at least an hour late.

Just like that, without question and without explanation, Trisha understands exactly what Bernadette means and this is indisputable among Antiguans and Antigua residents.

When I was in high school, I had a brief stint in an Office Procedures class and I remember we were given a test on Job Etiquette. One of the questions on the test went something like this:

Your employer requires you to be at work by 8:00AM. At what time do you arrive in order to be early?
Answer: 7:30AM.

And I also remember a Sensei at the karate school I attended saying:
"Class begins at 7:00PM. If you arrive at 7:00PM, you're late. If you arrive at 6:45PM, you're on time and if you arrive at any time before 6:45PM, you're early."

So it means that the issue isn't that we haven't been taught the importance of being early. We have. It was drilled into us when we showed up late for school and we learned that lateness was a thing to be ashamed of when we were frowned on for walking into church a few minutes after the service had already started.

So what's the problem people???

Why are we perpetually late for almost every event and every occasion? Why is it a must that we're not on time? Is it some kind of innate malfunction that causes us to disrespect the entire concept of arriving on time? And pray tell, who came up with the idea of being fashionably late?

All these things crossed my mind this evening while I waited an hour for the organisers of a 6:00PM presenation to show up. Upside: I was inspired to write this blog.

And while I'm on my soap box, I'd like to say that I've been working very hard at breaking the cycle of being late for everything. So far, I'm doing a pretty good job, although I fall off the band wagon ever so often... That is all.