Being punctual sometimes is wasting your time, being alone, waiting, checking your watch every second! Craning your neck to see whether your train, your bus, your person is in sight! Why be punctual then? Very simple. Punctuality is a VIRTUE and should be practiced and encouraged.
Everyday at eight in the morning ,the school bus picks four students from the stop near my building. I am at my study room window to view this. My son is one of the four students who boards this bus to school.
The bus is often punctual . It arrives late, only when the traffic is a bit slow .. All of them wait for it as I do at my window. Out of the four students, two of them are often late to catch the bus. The bus driver is considerate and waits until they arrive, while the other two are almost always on time.
But this morning was different; one elevator of our building was not working . Going down twenty-five floors is quiet a job .My son had to wait for the only other working lift as it served each floor. I was already at the window and I saw the bus ( on time today) approach the stop, the three kids boarded it. The automatic door closed and it moved away. My son reached the spot about 90 seconds late, seeing no one around he looked up to see if I was there. I signaled to him that the bus had already left. He rushed to take the public transport to be on time for his morning prayers at school.
Why did the bus driver not consider waiting (even a few more seconds) for the student (my son) who is always punctual? For a moment I felt he was not fair. Was the driver in a bad mood? I have seen him wait even for five minutes (300seconds) on some other days. Then why did he not wait today?
The only reason I could arrive at was if a very punctual student is not on time, it is assumed that he is not going to school. He must be absent for the day. Yet I feel that the driver should have considered waiting a few more seconds for the benefit of the doubt or my son.
I wonder if I should take to heart that although being punctual is good, being punctual ALWAYS may not be so good.
Does the virtue of punctuality ill suits the one who is always on time?
8 comments:
Yet if ever there is someone late we should wait because it is good to for me like exmaple i was late, there is someone waiting for me with their smile and have their patience to wait.. But lets all be punctual instead...
I think the driver could have waited atleast for 5mins.taking into consideration that sometimes kidz can be late.I know he cant wait for a long time because it would not be fair to the other kids.On the whole like u said punctuality is a virtue and I taught my children that.I am actually a very punctual person, maybe paranoid about being late.One day I was late to work only a few mins.There were so many calls to the home enquiring about me because they thought something happened to me.
We set the expectation levels in others based on our behaviour pattern.I agree with your reasoning - perhaps the driver had never seen your son late that he assumed that he was not coming to school that day. Please ask your son to allow him the grace time too. Sometimes our own need for perfection works against us! :)
24 floors to go down and just one lift - sounds like a huge task to me.
PB
I genuinely feel the mishap shud be taken as a compliment. As u suggested the punctual boy wud never be expected to turn up late. I am really happy to hear that u have been able to inculcate a very important virtue (among many others, I am sure) in your son.
NB: I used to be a hopeless latecomer until I started teaching. I ahve mended my ways and
make it a point to be on time, these days, since it does go a long way to help establish an identity with my students. And I am glad that I did!:)
you are right being always punctual has its demerits.but let not this incident discourage your son.i'm sure that even tho' he took the public transport he must have reached school on time.
punctual ppl are like dependable clocks. when a clock stops working, u don't realise for a long time. ppl depend upon punctual ppl to b ontime and often 4get that they are human too and could have reasons to be late occassionaly.
the driver should wait a few minutes if some student does not board the bus, with a hope that there cud b reasons for delay.
did u mention 25th floor???
HI,
NEIl, Lalitha, USHa, Velu, Natasha, Preeta and Mizfit.
Punctuality is a virtue and should be encouraged. thankyou.
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thankyou NEil
for "there is someone waiting for me"...great thinking.
thankyou Lalitha for:
"I know he cant wait for a long time because it would not be fair to the other kids".
YOu make one understand that you need to be practical and just.
thankyou USha for:
"Please ask your son to allow him the grace time too. Sometimes our own need for perfection works against us! :)" U r right.
thankyou Velu for:
"shud be taken as a compliment"
makes one feel positive of this Virtue.
Welcome NATASHA,
thankyou.
"I would then conclude that all of us can be dealt with unfairly, no matter how virtuous we can be"...you need to accept a few things and move ahead. Some great observations by you.
HI Preeta,
His friends told him the next day(monday) "the driver didnt wait for you"He was angry and came complaining.I made him read the comments and this post. HE smiled...
"but let not this incident discourage your son"...We appreciate it. thankyou
He was early to school that day!
HI Mizfit,
yes twenty fifth and two more floors above me....
"are like dependable clocks"...Punctual people are honored.thankyou and tc
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Господа.
Если вы интересуетесь немного политикой, то должны были заметить - эти резкие волнения в странах Африки
возникли неспроста.
Есть 2 версии этих событий - "официальная" и "неофициальная", и обе версии скорее уводят в сторону от реальных фактов.
[b]Версия 1:[/b] Каддафи - тиран и самодержец, стрелял в мирных граждан, поэтому его надо бы убрать.
[b]Версия 2:[/b] на самом деле Европе с Америкой захотелось немного Ливийской нефти, и они решили навести небольшой "дебош"
Рассмотрим версию 1.
Да, Каддафи уже тот ещё старик, ему конечно пора бы и на пенсию. Но известно ли вам, что конкретно в Ливии
народ имеет весьма высокие преференции при его правлении? Учителя получают под $3.000, выплаты безработным
порядка $1000 и так далее. Да, он стал укрощать группки взбунтовавшихся бедуинов, но кто-нибудь понимает
реальные причины этих бунтов?
Эта версия не выдерживает никакой критики.
Версия 2.
Нефть Ливии? Да, она отличается высоким качеством, Ливийская нефть очень чистая. Но её там не так много.
Да и к тому же, зачем тогда будоражить Египет и прочие африканские государства, которые весь прошлый
год вообще никого не тревожили и не волновали?! А тут вдруг - "тираны", "изверги" и т.п.
Да, эта ситуация дополнительно подогрела цены на нефть. Отдельным корпорациям это выгодно.
Но истина короче.
Каддафи не так давно начал объединять ближневосточные страны под идеей перейти на расчёт
за нефть и товары НЕ долларами, НЕ евро, а альтернативой всему этому. И Египет - одна из стран,
которая это поддержала...
Подробнее - здесь:
http://sterligov.livejournal.com/4389.html
Однако в популярных СМИ это никогда не скажут.
P.S. У Саддама Хусейна, кстати, тоже были такие начинания. Вообще, после кризиса ооочень многие
страны стали задумываться об ИЗБАВЛЕНИИ ОТ ЗАВИСИМОСТИ ОТ ДОЛЛАРА. Рано или поздно
это произойдёт. ФРС уже некуда понижать ставки.
Распространите это где сможете. Люди должны знать правду.
Кстати, это тоже по теме: СБ ООН принял резолюцию по Ливии, Каддафи, Франция пообещала напасть на Ливию через несколько часов, СМИ, Военная операция Запада в Ливии, планы, Великобритания примет участие в военной операции в Ливии, "командного
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