I suspect that we have earned for ourselves the dubious reputation of always being on time. Where once punctuality was considered a virtue, now people look askance at those, such as us, who indulge in it. To dislike being late is, I fear, a generational fault, but habit dies hard, and we have not been able to train ourselves to ignore the time we are due. And so we continue to present ourselves at the stipulated time, to find that, more often than not, we are the first guests to arrive. What is more, we frequently remain the only guests for at least an hour.
Recently, for instance, we were invited to dinner at 8.30 p.m. and, as usual, we arrived on the dot. The host was taking a shower, and the hostess was in the nether regions putting finishing touches to the dinner that was to be served. Clearly, we were not expected to be on time. While we were acutely embarrassed to have put our hosts in this position, they were equally embarrassed at not being ready — and we found ourselves in the extraordinary position of having to apologise for being on time!
An assortment of reasons justifies late arrivals, though it is so taken for granted these days that neither apology nor explanation is expected or, for that matter, always offered. Top of the list is work — either husband or wife or both got held up at the office. Then come the children — either Munna or Munni threw a tantrum just as the parents were leaving. Or they were waiting for the one-way system to change in their favour since then they would not have to go all the way around. Or, a fairly standard excuse, “so sorry, but we had to attend a couple of cocktail parties before coming here.”
I often wonder why everyone is so casual these days about being punctual. Is it a matter of social protocol? Or is it a vicious circle — since the guests know that dinner will be served only at 11 ’clock, they arrive late. But because they are late, dinner is served at 11 ’clock. Or is it just that punctuality is a casualty of our current frenetic pace of living?
Today we seem to be late for everything — social get-togethers, concerts, plays and even movies. Recently we went to a dance performance that clearly said that the performance would start at 7 p.m. Most of us arrived in time to be seated before the show, but 7 ’clock came and went. Instead of seeing the curtain rise, we heard an announcement that said that since there had been telephone calls to say that people were caught in traffic, there would be a delay in starting the performance!
This was not an isolated instance. We see repeated and varied examples of a disregard for punctuality, further confirmation, perhaps, that those of us who complain are the ones out of sync.
