Comments on: Winner #3

By: Bob

Bob — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 15:51:25 +0000

Perhaps lateness and circadian rhythm disturbances are correlated. Studies have shown that some minority groups are more likely than White Americans to report daytime sleepiness and an inability to sleep well. Maybe sleep rhythm abnormalities are more common among some ethnic groups than others. By this I mean that even if people could subtract work, kids, and stress, there are those that will still still not sleep well due to biological factors. This would directly influence lateness.

By: richsheri

richsheri — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:12:05 +0000

I happened to google this quote so I could restate it to someone and came upon this blog. This is quite a generalized statement… I know many white people who may as well dispose of all forms of timekeeping they own because they seem to have no sense of time. I’m BLACK and number 1 on my list of “things I hate” is being late so I too live by this mantra! I’d rather be an hour early than a minute late…

By: coopermama

coopermama — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 21:12:11 +0000

I am a white american and you have discribed me perfectly. I am always early and I think it is extremely disrespectful to show up late. I take great offense to tardiness.

By: Emma

Emma — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 19:13:40 +0000

I always overestimate how long it will take me to get ready for something and then how long it will take me to get there, and then its like, I could sit in my room for the extra 20 minutes doing nothing or just be early… I hate being ealry. -.-

By: pigmiddle

pigmiddle — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 15:51:26 +0000

An interesting concept, ‘white people’, but a little bit broad for anything other than fatuous generalisation . Perhaps this piece refers in the main to ‘white Americans’ , although this fails to take into account the sheer diversity of European, and European-derived cultures, and doesn’t address the norms of behaviour in Asiatic or Arabic cultures . How would your correspondent react to the suggestion that all black people turn up on time or late? In an age of efficient travel, cellular phones and instant communication, the concept of punctuality, or of ‘arriving in good time’ may have taken a bit of a battering , but in the past, the uncertainty of travel and the time and inconvenience of sending a message or of arranging a rendezvous , meant that many people developed a habit of arriving early for an event or meeting . Other reasons might include availability of seating, the time taken to actually enter a venue or party, the ritual of greeting your host, a limited supply of food or drink, the start time of any entertainment , and above all the idea that it is rude to keep people waiting . As for business, just try persuading anyone, white or black, that turning up late is in some ways a cultural right or norm, rather than taking the precaution of a safety margin . It’s rather pathetic that ‘being early’ is perceived as some kind of white conspiracy to impose unreasonable colonial standards upon the non-white American community . It’s also inaccurate and condescending to all concerned
.

By: Kayle

Kayle — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 15:09:25 +0000

Not always; it’s horribly, terribly different if you’re British.

By: Kayle

Kayle — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 15:01:33 +0000

Now THIS is really interesting. Can you talk more about it? because, from what I can tell of white culture there’s a LOT of preaching social virtues and then punishing people when thy adhere to them by labeling them as further undesirable. (most cultures have strict rituals for EVERYTHING, and are hella more consistent in their social values. But in white culture, it’s like, unless you know The Code, you can’t win for losing. Is it because US whites have teenagers, and have had them longer that any other US culture? And that teenage culture mostly consists of rebellion against social rules, but with tightly restricted alternative formulas for group conformity? And is it because this youth culture has pretty much taken over US culture in general and that the proposed age of membership is ever expanding? I really do think your discrepancy is one having to do with perceived age or subculture membership that goes away once these same people join the most prevalent culture. What do you think?

By: Kayle

Kayle — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 14:48:26 +0000

Yes, LAWD. this is the truth!
Btw, I’m willing to bet this trait came from Germanic-descended cultures, like the English. I doubt punctuality would be *perceived as* an *International* preferred business standard if there had never been a British empire.

By: Kayle

Kayle — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 14:41:30 +0000

Wow. The number of ignorance and ethnocentricity-fueled defensive comments in this thread boggles the mind. Or it would. Latin countries are well aware of this obsession of the “US” culture, as are MANY others. It’s funny that people want to forget US culture is defined by whiteness when it feels convenient to do so, but still manage to enforce the fact with the pretty singular exception of the acceptance and prevalence of black music in *Pop Culture*.

By: Vee Bee

Vee Bee — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 12:40:27 +0000

This is pretty funny. Although I can understand the views of each side, it’s still funny to me. Like another reader posted, I learned this quote from a Black man, and I am black as well. Being an educator, I teach this to my students every semester. It’s a shame that you equate being on time to “white” but that just shows your personal supremacy of certain races. At any rate………it’s still funny, haha!I’m not offended at all, I live by this mantra because the early bird catches the worm, not because I want to please “white people.”