All through my life, I knew people not to arrive on time. To me, however, it seems that this tendency is now enjoying more popularity than ever.
And why not? After all, there is a perfectly acceptable excuse today – traffic jams on all kinds of streets.
Well, this is an excuse I, as a biker, cannot use. Consequently, I have to think of something more original. Naturally, the unexpected wind from the opposite direction will not suffice if everybody can feel there is no wind.
And in order to sound credible with a puncture, I would first have to soil my fingers, which is not something I want to do.
Mind you, people can be on time, if they only want to. It was again proved to me when I went to see the last concert of the Wise Guys last Friday at the Gasteig (of course, it was again completely sold out). All the seats in the broad carousel are occupied five minutes before the show starts. All of them? No! I actually can see two couples of vacant seats somewhere within my view.
Will the owners of those tickets come? Has something happened to prevent them from coming? Or will they be late? Two of the vacancies are in the second row. Now wouldn’t that be something? Well, not for me, since I have a seat in the first row. But some people sitting further back would certainly appreciate them, wouldn’t they?
The Wise Guys enter the stage and start the concert. Those seats are still vacant. But since the wise guys are truly nice, they pause after 10 minutes and four people are permitted to come to the front and take the good seats.
Well, this Wise Guys concert showed me that people can actually be punctual if only they want to or have to. Even if they go by car. And I have seen the same happen when I went to the theatre or cinema.
It is much the same as with the railway. You have to be at the platform on the dot, even though the train mostly will not be on time. Because if, just once, you are late by two minutes, you can bet that this is the one day when the train will leave on time.
Yet, if you come to see me, you do not have to be punctual.
So what do I do about it?
For me, it is not a terrible thing if people who have an appointment with me are not on time. Because I always have enough work, or else am happy to have a little leisure time.
I also know that for those people who come to see me and are late, I am not less important than the Wise Guys or the theatre or the railway. The fact that they are on time there is just something the system forces them to do. On the other hand, their not being punctual when they come to see me is socially acceptable and perfectly normal behaviour. Perhaps this is part of our automobile culture.
And as to myself, I always try to be on time.
Being a biker, I do not have much of a choice, do I? There is no excuse I can think of.
Besides – I do not think I find people not being on time so terrible.
Perhaps I even like them.
RMD
P.S.
Here is a song by the Wise Guys I particularly like:
🙂 Ich schmeiß mein Auto auf den Müll
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