Time

“Until you value yourself, you will not value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.”

Scott Peck.

My nature does not allow me to wait. I value time greatly but lately it seems to be such a struggle. The culture around us is that we are Africans and we are easy on time, In fact we are told we are never in a hurry. I refuse (REFUSE) to agree with such an assumption. I know at least three dozen people who are big on time. I think we have a critical mass that can change the notion of time in my minds.

On Saturday in this darn weather of Nairobi I was on my way home after having a discussion with a friend I hadn’t seen since last year.  As we walked to the bus stop a mutual friend of ours called and asked us to wait for him for an hour he needed to see us. Coincidentally, my friend and I were on “footusbishi” and since he really wanted to see us we agreed to wait. But this was after we gave him a stern warning that an hour was the time distance between 8.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. nothing more nothing less. My friends share a native language and repeated slowly in their language that indeed he must keep time.

Being a Saturday we decided to enter the nearest club from where we were for a drink as we waited for our friend. Needless to say, time changes things fast we looked quiet old to imagine none of the younglings who saw us wanted to share a table with us. In fact until the club was full to capacity and there was no other seating space only then did we get the youngsters ask whether they could share our table. And this club is on the second floor of a building, I could not see the fir exit and the ventilation was horrible (no wonder then they did consider us old). The traffic in and out of the club was annoying they just kept walking up and down ceaselessly. Ohh sorry, I digress I will soon write a story on the club scene in Nairobi.

It was now going to 10.00 p.m. and we had not sighted our friend, he had not replied to my text and the calls from Xavier (he who we were with) were not been answered. Since we are Africans we gave our friend the benefit of doubt that indeed his watch was a whole hour behind schedule. At ten thirty the guy had not arrived yet. Let’s just say anyone who knows me well enough at this point can tell you for free that I must have been so annoyed. Time is of the essence.

Something has happened to Society that I can’t understand. The regard for time was wrapped into tissue and flushed down the toilet. We have no regard for it. A girlfriend of mine who since I prefer to be in her good books(forgive me) has now asked for her green card to be always late according to her “When I say a few minutes I mean our them in sssllllooowww motion “ so that if we were meeting at  8.30p.m.  Don’t expect her a minute earlier than 10.30p.m.When did the rain(time) start beating us?

Anyone from generation Y & earlier part of X will always have a tale of how they were left by their parents at home, church, school, playground or other place. Our folks thought we were wasting their time and moved on to doing other important things. They loathed mediocre timings but we have now become a master of it.

The entrance of somebody vis-à-vis the time they were expected is a good indicator of what kind of a person they are. How do you explain a person who comes to an 8.30 a.m meeting at 11.30 a.m and walks in slowly having not read what was the agenda of the meeting thus been rather clueless of the goings on?

Time is not something you rewind or recycle once misspent, it cannot be recovered. We must correct the notion that time can just be wasted. Please be on time always. If you are getting late, please call they who are waiting for you. If people are waiting for you please pick up their calls or reply their SMS. If you can’t make it please let the other party know you can’t make it. And whatever you are meeting about have a clue it would be in bad taste to enter a nuclear energy meeting thinking it was a meeting to organize the end of year party. Time etiquette dictates that you under promise and over deliver and never vice versa.

Let’s just say that up to now (Tuesday) my friend from Saturday who I have ascertained is alive and healthy has had no nerve to call me and explain why I then had to walk in town at 11.30 p.m for no reason at all. If there was a friendship that ended swiftly and clinically on that day was that one. Such manners are unacceptable it is not okay that you phone went off, network issues, puncture issues, rain issues…..e.t.c.(Three hours are enough to sort all this issues)unacceptable. You are not worth my time.

This week (and all year) be an extreme stickler for time and demand as much from others and do not lower that standard no matter what.

Keep warm in this weather.

Sojourner.