Lesson 29
     The VoicesTime
     Text A
     Time talks. It speaks more plainly than words. Time communicatesmany ways. Considerdifferent partsthe day,example. The timethe day when somethingdone can givespecial meaningthe event. Factory managersthe United States fully realizeimportancean announcement made duringmiddlethe morning or afternoon that takes eveiyone away fromwork. Whenever they wantmake an important announcement, they ask; "When shall we let them know?"
     InUnited States, itnot custorriarytelephone someone very earlythe morning. If you telephone him earlythe day, while heshaving or having breakfast,timethe call shows thatmatter as very importantrequires immediate attention The same meaningattachedtelephone call after . 00 P. M. if someone receivescall during sleeping hours, he assumes ita matterlife or death. The time chosenthe call communicates its importance.
    In social life, time playsvery irrrportant part. InUnited States, guests tendfeel they are not highly regarded ifinvitationa dinner partyextended only three or four days beforeparty date. But thisnot trueall countries. In other areasthe world,may be considered foolishmake an appointment too faradvance because plans which are made fordate more thanweek away tendbe forgotten.
    The meaningstime dif#er .in different partsthe worid. Thus, misunderstandings arise;; .between people from cuitures that treat time differently. Promptnessvalued highlyAmerican iife,example. If people are nvt prompt, they may be regarded as impolite or not fully responsible. InU. S. , no one would thinkkee.pingbusiness associate waitingan hour,wouid be too impolite. When equals meet,person whofive minutes late will say#ew wordsexplanation, though perhaps he may not completesentence.
    Americans look aheadare concerned almost entirely withfuture. The American ideathe futurelimited, however. Itthe foreseeable futurenotfuturethe Soath Asian, which may involve centuries. Someone has saidthe South Asian ideatime : "Timelikemuseum with endless hallsrooms. You,viewer, are walking throughmuseumthe dark, holdinglighteach scene as you pass it. Godin chargethe museum,only he knows all thatin it. One lifetime represents one room. "
    Since time has such different meaningsdifferent cultures, communicationofte.n difficuit. We will understand each otherlittle better if we can ksep this factmind.
    Text B
     ammembera small, nearly extinct minority group who insist, even thoughseemsbe outdate,the sanctitybeingtime. Whichto say that we On-timers are compulsively, unfashionably prompt, that there are only handfulsus left, and, unfortunately, we never seemhave appointments with each other.
    The factthat beingtime has becomesocial mistake. The factthat generally speaking,time thatLate-people set asMomentRendezvousa code. Ita code meaning at least one half-hour later. The factthat we Ontimers can't get that into our heads. We arrive invariably atappointed hour at people's houses, which means that we have occasionally eaten'allsandwiches beforeother guests arrive. Which means that we are rude.
    Let me explain. We are,example, inviteddinner at eight o'clock athomefriends who live exactly twenty minutes away. We leave our house at teneight so thatonce we will becomfortable ten minutes late. Then eventraffic defeats us. We meet only green lightsarrive at four minuteseight. We drive about forwhilethen enter at one minute past ,the astonishmentthe hosthostess.
    Sheat an important stagepreparation withsaucepans. Hethinking about takingshower. We end up helping withfirst courseputtingbabyhedmixingdrinksare still left with enough timeanalyse what kindpeople our hosts are frommagazinesthe coffee table. Asmeetingrestaurants , you can immediately recognise us On-timers. We areonly non-alcoholics standingrestaurant doorwaysDecember. If not, we can always be found killing timethe cloakroom or tryinglook as if we are not alone atbar.
    Now, we all know that these very same Late-people do not routinely miss planes orbeginningsfilms. But, astoldlate-person recently, "Ifweretrain, I'd be gone. . . " With regardmeetings there are two kindspeoplc. Those who hatewaitthose who hatemake others wait. The sadiststhe masochists?hope not.
    There wasNew York magazine piece once aboutpower struggle involvedbusiness lunches. It intimated that you could always tellpowerlessthe powerful. The Indians were waiting, whileChiefs arrived half an hour or an hour later. If you are an On-timer, you cannot make an entrance.
    The Late-people,course, are always terribly sorry, "but something important came up" (in contrastus,instance). Besides, as they say, their minds are always so fullbig questions (like The Bomb) that they never know what timeis. In comparison withOn-timers , 'they suggest , who have their little brains filled with stupid details likebig handthe little handthe clock.
    The problemgetting worse. If you adjustthe Late-peopleacceptfact that they're half an hour behindtime you arrangedmeet , they arrive an hour late. Fewerfewerus On-timers remain. We are now surprised when anyone elseon time. We have begunmake certain adjustments like setting our clockswatches back or bringingnovel we're working ondinner parties. How late we arerecognise that beingtimeoutdate, thatfact, our time has passed.
    Additional Information
     How Americans See Time
     Americans recognise that therea pastwhichpresent rests.But they have not developed their sensethe depthtimethe extent that this has been donethe Middle EastSouth Asia. The Arab,looks back twosix thousand yearshis own origins. Historyused asbasisalmost any modern action. The chances are that an Arab won'r starttalk orspeech or analyseproblem without first developinghistorical aspectshis subject. The American assumes that time has depth, but he takes thisgranted.
    The American never questionsfact that time should be plannedfuture events fitted intoschedule. He thinks that people should look forwardthe futurenot dwell too muchthe past. His futurenot very far aheadhim. Results must be obtainedthe foreseeable futureone or two years or, atmost, five or ten. Promisesmeet deadlinesappointments are taken very seriously.
    There are real penaltiesbeing late andnot keeping commitmentstime. The American thinks itnaturalquantify time. To faildo sounthinkable. The American specifies how much timerequireddo everything. "I'll be thereten minutes. " "It will take six monthsfinish that job. " "I wasthe Armyfour andhalf years. "
    The Americans, tike so many other people, also use time aslink that chains events together, If one event occursthe heelsanother, we inevitably tryfindcausal relationship between them. If.Aseenthe vicinityB's murder shortly aftercrime has been committed we automatically formconnection between AB. Conversely, events which are separated by too much. time are difficultusconnectour minds. This makesalmost impossibleus as a. nationengagelong-range planning.