timeliness and the cultural change in america....

i was reading an old online friends blog and it made me realize she is absolutely right. there is a change in culture in america. well actually there are lots of changes, but this is one i am going to focus on.

being on time and actually showing up when you say you are. when i was a kid...it was uncommon at best to not show up when you said you were or to show up late. my parents raised me this way and i was never good at it, but i just knew it was the way things were done in america, so i battled with it my whole life. somethings i'm always on time for like doctor appointments, dentist, haircuts, business meetings, movies, etc. other things i am always late. things like family gatherings, getting to work. in my defense...i've never been a morning person. normally this would be a typical excuse...but if i could start work at 10am...i'd always be on time and i don't mind working until 10pm at night. i just can't get up in the morning no matter how early i start. part of this came from just always sucking at it. as a kid i was always being shoved out the door by my mom and running to catch the school bus, every morning. as an adult out of school...i worked two jobs. one was at a defunct builder's best pushing cart and loading cars...and my shifts were always the afternoon and early evening. my second job was repaving parking lots and asphault work..which we didn't start until after midnight...so as to not affect the business of the parking lot owners. plus asphault is nasty hot work and doing it in the daytime was really harsh. not only would you get sunburned, but also chemical burned from the asphault. we did a few parking lots on the weekends during the daytime and it was harsh.

anyways...this night work maybe didn't help set my internal clock to mornings, and i've never really adjusted.

anyways......

my mom was always timely..and would jump all over me if i was running late to anything...but things have changed. people, even my mom nowadays...just don't show up on time anymore. often they don't show up at all. i think part of this is a laziness blanket that has been coveirng and smothering america...but i also think this is some cultural invasion from s. america. where timelimess doesn't even exist in some countries. i remember in school reading about some idians in s. america that don't get time. if they showed up late, it was because that was their destiny. hence their culture was where ever you are is where you are supposed to be. this fit my natural lean well. of course as an adult now and a small business owner...you can't really do that. you have to lead by example. if i show up late, then it's nbot long beofre my employees follow suit. so i have to fight everyday with myself to get to work on time...so i am setting a good example.

there is allot of pressure being a leader. i'll be the first to admit i suck at it. i don't want to lead. i just want everyone to do their job and put in their best effort. riding on people's backs is not my thing. i hate to micro manage. even the best workers need to be patted on the back once in awhile and pushed a little harder to do better. it's just human nature to fall back into a comfort zone. i don't think it's done purposely, rather just a trait of humans and this culture we are in. i alos don't think, most times, it's done on purpose to hurt someone. rather time management is one of the hardest things to master. you are never done learning and doing it. it's a thankless task/skill. there is no finish line...so you never get to win at it or just stop.

so i noticed it first in my generation. we sucked as a whole at timeliness and showing up at all. now it's spread somewhat to the older generations....like the baby boomers. i'm not sure if it's a follow the leader type of event and the older crowd figured...why bother no one else is trying...or if it's just because society has been overloaded with events and obligations...that we just can't get everything done anymore...or even if it's just the lsot art of time management? i think its a little bit of all three.

of course...if youa re the one soldier pushing on for on time and fulfilling your oblgiations...it does become personal and frustrating. it's never easy to be the last man/woman standing.

so long term this is a bad direction for america. sure it's easier...but it makes things unreliable. n one would be ahppy showing up at a store to get a last minute gift for someone at 10am and the store sign says 10am, but the employees/manager don't show up until 11am. some with resturants. what has happened in america is the worst of both worlds. we expect everyone else to be on time and to fulfill their obligations...but when it comes to ourselves...we think we are exempt. this is more of the fall out and social disasters created by the hippie generation and the 70's me attitude in america. these morons (hippies) created a social house of cards. without reliability things just don't work. so my friend is right....if you say your going to be somewhere...be there. if you can't call ahead and cancel...not 1 hour after you should have been there or not at all. being late and not showing up seems easier...but reaaly it's not. you end up spending more time fixing the problem later when you piss off everyone you know, than had you jsut showed up and put in your 30 minutes. or called ahead and cancelled or even just said maybe another time...i can't right now.