09th March 2010
Lateness!

Lateness, as we all know, has to do with time. It’s been around ‘from time’ – for as long as time has been. Which tells me that lateness has always been around -- that it’s been there from the first dawn and the first sun. Which also tells me it’s been around longer than mankind. And womankind. And clocks.
Lateness has caused all sorts of things in life and history. The stories abound. Wars, divorces, death and damnation have resulted from something not happening on time. A guy who turns up late for his wedding will have caused serious suspense, if not heartache, by the time he arrives. (There are also stories where lateness has been positive – like when that assassin missed the boat and the victim lived to see another day…)
Indeed, lateness has been around so long that it’s become part of the world’s culture – albeit one that most may wish wasn’t. But it is. Excuses are often given for it. We’ve grown to know we should abhor it, be ashamed of it, or at least be or feel or say we’re sorry for it. But we can always explain why we’re late. And if we don’t have the right answers, popular culture often throws them up.
Songs offer responses, excuses and explanations (depending on which suits you.) One Caribbean song says, “Too late shall be your cry”. (That’s for the guy or gal that misses the boat – whichever boat, wherever, for whatever reason.) But internationally acclaimed songs like “Blame it on the rain” offer the perfect response. (In today’s drought situation, blaming it ‘on the rain’ won’t work, but when the weather is allowed to be itself like we grew up knowing it, we could always ‘Blame it on the rain’ -- especially these days, when rain can fall at La Clery and not at L’Anse Road…)
Serious people who abhor lateness come up with all sorts of ways to avoid it. They set their watches or clocks five minutes or a full hour ahead. They set alarm clocks at home and on their cell phones. Today you can even key your appointment into your computer and the machine will talk and tell you when the time has come. Or you can leave home early. Or you can finish dressing on the way. (I saw a guy Monday morning tying his tie while rushing down the Kayerre between L’Anse Road and Vide Boutielle. He didn’t want to get to work late.) I had a late friend who called “Clock”. (I refer to him as late, not because he was always late, but because he’s died.) “Clock” got his nickname because, at school, he wore a watch the size of which appeared more like a clock on his rather slender wrist. But, while we worked together at the PM’s Office, thanks to his ‘clock’, he was never late for a meeting.
It’s all about being on time…
The Prime Minister and his ministers seem to have developed a reputation for being late. And not apologizing. And they’ve (apparently) been taken to task about it -- time, after time, after time. (The latest was when the Education Minister gave a lecture on lateness – in the presence of the PM and his fellow Cabinet ministers – at the Independence Youth Rally, where the PM was again accused of not only being late, but also causing the Governor General – known for her punctuality – to also be late. To my knowledge, the PM has never responded publicly to being called a persistent late show. Until last weekend. For the first time, he offered a public explanation. A long one that effectively said it was Rick’s Maryanna that had told untruths, that had either made up or didn’t check its stories, and, therefore, it was Rick’s Maryanna that was downright “rude”. And his Press Secretary demanded an apology!