Filipino Time: A culture that has to end.

“Proud to be Pinoy”, i’ll never get tired of saying this. Yes, why not. There are a lot of things we must be proud of. From food, destinations, arts and the people itself. But every country has its fair share of lapses. We are not perfect. It is normal. But we can do something to avoid it.

Of all the culture that we are known for the “Filipino time” is the most unlikely. In all honesty naiirita ako sa concept na to.

“Filipino time” is basically being LATE. On a meeting, event or whatever that requires an exact time. This is something I despise. Why? because for me being late is disrespectful. We destroy someone else’s schedule. We steal from them the time that they could have been spending with their family. Or the time that they might be resting.

Being late reflects a lot about our personality. It reflects a lot on how we prepare for a task. It shows how we treat and look at the people around us. 

For me the saying “better late than never” is wrong. It must be “never late is better”. 

I can clearly remember what my mentor in Convergys told me before about coming to work early. 

“mas maganda pumasok ng maaga, you can settle on your work station. Prepare your things and blend in the environment. Rather than rushing in to work, with all the anxiety of being late. Umpisa pa lang ng araw mo pagod ka na. Unlike kapag maaga ka. Relax ka lang”

She was right. Whenever I am not rushing to clock in, those were the shifts that were so relaxed and smooth. But for the days when all I do is rush, stressful shift is expected. 

A little sacrifice would bring us far. It is expected that the traffic is bad. So we do not have any choice but to add a bit more time on our travel time. Yes, mahirap but repetition would lead to habit creation. 

To be in the other side of the situation is not pleasant feeling. Making others wait will not yield us a good impression. 

This is not the culture that we want to be known for. We are known to be hard working and people who values other people. I do hope we could all live by that.