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When Being Late Hinders Your Fun |
"Fashionably Late." "Colored People's Time (CPT)." "That woman's gonna be late for her own funeral." Those sayings allude to what could be a common tendency among African Americans - being late. This is not an article bashing and stereotyping black people. It's a look at a poor habit in which we (me included) often shrug our shoulders and casually dismiss. These words don't come from someone who's very punctual or always on time. There are many Sunday mornings when my sister fumes at me while we're on our way to church. That's because I am the reason we're late much of the time. For those of us struggling with this habit, how can we change? Many of us have been programmed to think being late is okay. The people who walk in late at the parties are the "important" ones, right? Let's go beyond the glitz and glamour of music videos. Think about an event you've paid for -not one where you're getting paid to show your face. What happens when tardiness ruins that event? I've recently had such an experience. I mentioned my sister fuming on the way to church earlier. Imagine being stuck in traffic with that same person on the way to the Fountain City Classic? Yep, that was my scenario. I'd trekked all over Americus at the last minute to find a memory card for my camera and caused us to run late. We had not been to the Classic in years. Neither one of us had a clue just what we were dealing with until we road into Columbus on Victory Drive. The traffic and parking situation was horrendous --cars parked on medians, in the roadways and in every other place they could fit. The game we'd purchased tickets for seemed to be getting further out of our reach. The kickoff eventually started inside the stadium. We could hear the roar of the crowds as we still inched our way through traffic. We finally made it into the stadium minutes before halftime. We enjoyed the game for all it was worth, but being late had definitely dampened our spirits. On a lighter note, we did get free T-shirts from the Census workers. I felt as if I was one of the foolish virgins mentioned in Matthew 25. The foolish virgins were to attend a wedding ceremony but ended up having the door shut in their faces. Why? Their lack of preparation and their tardiness. When it came to the Fountain City Classic, time was definitely of the essence. It made the difference between getting a parking space and being stranded in traffic. It determined whether we'd sit in the bleachers with a clear view of the halftime show or struggle to watch it behind other spectators. Being late had not been cute or fashionable for us. It had been tiresome and frustrating. I learned a valuable lesson that day. It took my tardiness ruining a good time for me to realize the importance of being prompt. That's truly a start for me. It's one thing for tardiness to hinder your fun. However, it becomes a serious matter when it affects other areas of your life such as your job, that interview, your worship to God and other people. I'll be the first to say that we're all human, and things do happen. Even as I write, I still struggle with timeliness. It doesn't seem like my change will happen overnight. I do, however, challenge myself and others who wish to overcome the habit of being late. Let's strive to do better and bring it. Let's be ready and on time. "Don't be tardy for the party." |
