Our eldest daughter YoHanna May loves to wear an attractive wrist watch, her cell phone and I-Pad also have clocks built right into them, but for some reason the world around her must operate on Hanna central time. She’ll be there when she gets there, and not one minute before.
When she was a little girl her teachers would gripe about her always being late for class, but they did nothing about it. No punishment, no detention after school, which I know she would have been late for if she had been required to go. Plus, always good marks on her report cards for punctuality and attendance, it was as if the world conspired with her.
When she got married in 2001 she was late to the church and late for both of her receptions she had one at our house and one at Chris’s family farm. She left the church to my house far and above ahead of everybody else and still arrived after all the guests did. That one I never figured out. BTW she was in the first car to leave my house and was still late arriving at the farm.
My Granddaughter Heather Colleen sometimes will spend the weekend at our house, one Sunday morning I asked Colleen if she would like to come with Coco the Flying Labrador and I for a purok walk. She said she couldn’t as her mother was picking her up at 07:00, I started laughing and looked at her and asked; “Who will be picking you up?” She smiled and said; “Lolo lets go for that walk!”
Don’t get me wrong as we all love her dearly, and have been well schooled in her tardiness. Her husband Chris is the kind of great guy that just smiles and waits. Like he or I, ever had a choice.
So today, (Thursday 8 Aug.),Chris and Hanna are taking Mayang, Ymir Thea and Ate Clara to San Fernando Pampanga so all five may renew their passports. Thank all that is Holy that the Philippines Passport office at the Mall doesn’t require appointments. Little Dude is going for the ride but he has the passport with the eagle imprinted upon its blue cover.
I foolishly asked what time they were departing and was told 0800, that response caused me to chuckle inwardly. For I know the truth. At 0910 I see the group standing under the carport looking down the road yearningly, awaiting the “Late One.” Tick tock, tick tock time is marching on. I’m thinking all is normal here in Never-never Land where time never passes.
Taking a chance, I looked at the group and said; “Eight O’clock you say, remember it could be the other one. There are two each day.” All heads turned and I got “THE LOOK” from everyone, except my Grandson the “Little Dude” as he could care less. As a matter of fact he decided to take a nap. He’s a very astute young man.
This does not affect me at all, as I elected to stay at the house and maintain a vigil with my trusty dog army. Our plan is to take naps and protect the hearth and home from evil doers. We know this will be a very long trip, as I had said earlier there is a MALL involved.
Tick tock, 09:30 no Hanna on the horizon, situation normal. Paul, is using his cagy brain to ponders the situation for a minute and figured out that, my LiP deadline is looming, nothing much has happened this week, So I ask myself could I do it? Could I dare to attempt to write this week’s LiP article in the time it will take for YoHanna to get here! So while Ate Clara, Mayang Ymir Thea and my napping Grandson are waiting, I’ll see if I can’t knock out a Lip Article while racing against the clock. Place your bets at the window folks; I feel a challenge coming on.
Ah but will I be able to make it, do I have enough time, hell yeah it’s my Hanna, I can set my watch by her. Oh wait, I gave away my watch to my father-in-law the day I retired back in 2000.
I’m going to stop hunting and pecking for a moment and take my camera outside and see what’s going on. I’m back it’s now 10:17 the Enova has arrived 2 hours and 17 minutes late or on time; if you view it through my daughters eyes.
Mmmm the dogs are now on patrol, it must be time for my morning nap. I’ve taken pictures, I‘ve finished writing, my work here is done. Oh a one last item is the beer cooler is well stocked, ready for me to awaken again! Oh yes, pray tell of course it is!
At 1700 hours all wandering family members have returned to the fold safe and sound. Another adventure that I was smart enough to avoid There are many instances where the services of the Kano are just not requires and are best left to the people born into this unique culture called the Philippine Island, As you might wonder at the arrival time of 17:00, which seems a bit early, I found that YoHanna had some place else to be and she was already late.
Oh, the beer was good!
Paul,
Hanna is just on typical Philippine time lol. Anne and Myself, Rod and Pie all had a great time yesterday even though it rained and continues to rain as i’m typing this. It was great meeting Loren and his lovely wife Merced. They are good people. Thanks so much for inviting us into your house and showing us some nice places to eat and indulge in adult beverages. Looking forward to coming back,
Randy;
And there you are today on the fringe of a typhoon, I was quite pleased to see you and Anne again, and very much enjoyed meeting Rod and Pie, fun people. Still searching for the “Blue Rock Girl” Have a safe trip back home.
Hanna is never early nor is she late. Always on time as I try to be.
Gary;
Whatever your smoking, put it out quickly. The day that girl is on time, I’ll try swimming from Baloy Beach to Manila!
Back home early at 1700 because she is already late somewhere else. Good reason.
Good food and drinks with Papa Duck, Rod, and their lovely wives yesterday. More good people living in the PI.
Loren;
It was a fun day even though we failed AGAIN to find the Blue Rock Girl, but I view that as another opportunity to try and find her another time.
All joking aside, saying tardiness is a Philippino trait is a bad thing. My staff have to decide what time they come into the office (between 7 am and 9 am), but they were habitually 30 minutes to an hour late every morning. So we finally installed an automated time in system when they log into their computer. At first no one took it seriously, but after the first evaluation and it showed them tardy every day and that it affected their performance ratings and pay, they finally accepted it and came in on time, or changed their working hours.
The business world doesn’t accept lateness, the sooner one learns this the better. If your retired, can sleep in all you want.
Keep dry from Typhoon Labuyo.
Don;
Putting joking aside is beyond my skill set. (lol) In Puerto Rico I had 45 civilian workers and 22 Military. It was so bad with lateness that I had my maintenance Chief move the time clock into my office. Problem solved, plus no punching in for friends. As for Typhoon Labuyo (Plus the other 4 or 5 names it has) we are on the fringe of it yesterday and today, no wind but non-stop pounding rain. I was online for only a few minutes before we lost the connection. So I guess I had a day off. (Thanks Bob Martin)
Paul, you most certainly made the right choice to stay home and guard the dog and play with the beer. That is the route I would have chosen. 😀
James;
I caught that with the dogs and beer! Very funny! I’ve been on trips like that before; the only good part is when they built Malls here they were smart enough to add watering holes.
Anytime I hear about Philippine Time, or experience it first hand, it reminds me of a song performed by Chicago a few decades back ( WoW, where did all of that Time go ? )
” Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is ” ( Does Anybody Really Care )
And yes Paul, I still have it on 45RPM.
Bob;
I know the song well, as to here in the Philippines that time didn’t go anywhere, it’s still swirling around somewhere. I wonder if you could get Sony to convert a Discman to play 45’s? Just a thought!
I don’t think there would be much of a market for that Paul. 45’s and for that matter just about all forms of Vinyl and shellac ( 78’s ) LP’s and the rest can easily be converted to play on a Discman ! Scratches, surface noise, worn grooves and all LOL. I’ve been doing that with many of my favorites for the past few years. I still won’t get rid of the originals though.
Bob NY
When I converted my LP’s to tape I soaked them in Silicone spray to do away with the snap, crackle and pops. My girl friend hated to se me waste the silicone!
The Filipino time thing kills me, as someone that has been punctual my entire life, prior to becoming married to a Filipina. It’s difficult getting her to places on time. Changing the expected time of departure to an earlier time has sometimes helped.
It is one thing I hope to not worry about too much when I am there. It’s different here even with appointments or parties. If you say you’ll be at a friends house at 1600, you’re there. To me, it’s rude not to be, unless something has legitimately kept you away. But this can’t be possible day in and day out. 🙂
Now that I am retired it is a little easier. The hardest thing is to show that if you’re late for a doctor appointment here, they might give that time to someone else and then you’re stuck waiting. But there, I’m told EVERYONE waits. That’s not going to be fun. 🙁
Great article as always Paul!
Scott;
As to the Doctor’s appointment (Or any other for that matter) It’s a best guess to begin with, so late or early just take a number and read your book. Here it’s not rude to be late; it’s expected so you’ll offend no one if you’re late. If you want some really odd looks, show up early. At an appointment if you show up on time, you’ll be the only one who knew you did. The person you had the appointment with is still on the way.
Hello Paul: Excellent and humorous article. During my last trip to the Philippines, my older brother who was the estate executor for our parents’ estate, always stressed that we are to meet at scheduled times as “American Time”. Having retired from the U.S. Navy as an officer, he certainly got his way. Anyone who got in his way got fired. Everyone got his message quickly. He’ll have to adjust his mindset once he settled permanently in the Philippines or he’ll get high blood pressure.
Roselyn;
Your Brother will have to make the adjustment that I had to make; here in the Philippines, but it was easier for me as I’d lived in Puerto Rico for 10 years. But between my career in the Navy, and then ten years as a Merchant Seaman quitting American time was still difficult. But believe I did it and now I don’t wear a watch and time is irrelevant to me.