"Filipino Always Late" or "Filipino On Time"
The Filipinos are famous for quite remarkable things like hospitality, great musicians and singers.. but another aspect that we are known very well for is the intriguing and oftentimes frustrating concept of "FILIPINO TIME".
What is Filipino Time? Let me think. sandali.. Wait 30 minutes, 45 minutes, an hour and I’ll will let you know.
Seriously speaking, that is exactly what Filipino Time is. We live by our own clock which is always about 30 minutes to an hour (depending on our mood and the traffic) late compared to the world standard time.
Actually, something funny occurs that severs the time on the clock and the time of action by Filipinos. The Filipino mind sees the right time but the Filipino body acts at least 30 minutes later! Why? Why Filipinos realy love Filipino Time. (I suppose they do or else they would not stick to it.) There is something magical about it. The concept of Filipino Time is congruent to the bahala na precepts we have inherited from our forefathers’ It is a relief to know that while you are working, you can still take it easy and have time to smell the sampaguitas with the Pinoy’s carefree treatment of time.
If Filipino Time pushes back the signs of aging and reduces stress, tension and all the other negative factors that sooner or later express themselves in heart disease or other forms of illness, then for goodness’ sake, let’s celebrate and perpetuate it. But if there were a way to keep this same carefree Pinoy attitude towards time and still be on time, then that would be heaven (or eternity?).
There are two major choices in solving this dilemma: one is to stay with the comfortable habit of Filipino Time, the other is to resolve to be a "Filipino On Time"! The only way to change the Filipino from being a "Filipino Always Late" to a "Filipino On Time" is to mandate a law. But that would be a dictatorial and would take time to enforce. To be effective, the change has to be personal. It has to be an individual choice. And knowing the Filipino, he’ll ask, "What’s in it for me?" To those who are even just a little bit intrigued about the change, here is something to mull over.
Success-fixated people are always on time. They know the value of time. They come prepared and arrive ahead of time. They realize that time is gold! I have been fighting my own Filipino Time blues for so many years now and I must confess that I occasionally lapse into its relaxed, unstructured, comforting time zone. (Then I would use my being a true-blooded Pinoy to rationalize my action.) But hope springs eternal. Who knows one sunny day the Filipino will suddenly take that 180-degree turn and be a strict time freak? A remote possibility, you say. In the meantime, take my advice on how to deal with time: "Think of time as another person. Go where you want to go before he arrives!"
Kabayan... How about you??... "Filipino Always Late" or "Filipino On Time"? What do you think about it...