Time, Time, Time; see what's become of me

I used to be punctual. I used to reach places before time. I used to be the one who did the waiting.

When I was in school ( till class 10) I used to time myself while getting ready. If I had to get out of the house by 7:25 it could not become 7:26

Even when I was in GDB  I was ( with my sister tagging along) the first person to arrive at the bus stop. Being late gave me a lot of stress.

These days I mostly end up being 5-10 minutes late. It happens a lot. I somehow never manage to reach a place before time.

Maybe I got tired of waiting for people. Once I cast away the tension involved with getting late I started taking punctuality casually.

I don’t know why people give 15 minute time windows. When someone asks me to arrive at a place between 6:15 to 6:30 what time does he expect me to come- 6:15 or 6:30? If I arrive at 6:35 am I 5 minutes late or 20?

When I go back to college after a break I forget how much time the bus takes and even though I do get ready I leave the house later than usual. I end up arriving just 2 minutes before the professor, out of breath , obviously.

I find it funny when people give long speeches after being introduced and asked to say ‘ a few words’. I know they don’t litrally mean a few words but I do end up laughing ( not aloud though) I start wondering if I should go up to the speech-giver and explain to him what ‘a few words’ mean. 

I once attended a function that was running late. One of the V.I. P members of the organising committee got up to speak after all the eminent  guests had given lengthy speeches. He started with “I know we arerunning late and everyone wants the program to begin. Respecting everyone’s time I shall say a few words…” He went on to speak for 10 minutes!

It’s just that we don’t respect each other’s time. We don’t give value to time.  It’s an old joke that IST stands for Indian Stretchable time. The joke should become obsolete soon. It is time that we take our hours, minutes and seconds seriously.

Organizations should begin their events, regardless of who hasn’t arrived. Dates should come on time whatever the traffic condition should be.  Girls should take as much time as they want to get ready as long as they aren’t late.  Time matters. Everyone’s .

Having said this, I too will make it a point; once again; to arrive on time without caring if others do so.