EXCERPT.
In Oscar Lewis LA VIDA, the peoples plane lands. They emerge into the airport. And there is nobody to meet them. Evidently, arrangements had been misunderstood. They are stranded.1

The world is in transition now, from an age-old way, pre-clock, without written appointments, to a new way which has been brought in by modern systems such as airlines and railroads (with their schedules), and international business relationships. The new way does not demand perfect punctuality and reliability. But it has to be close enough so that arrangements to do something, come to pass.

During fieldwork in a Spanish village, and again in the mountains of Jamaica, I realized: these people are not going by the clock. They are freed from this. It was interesting to see, in Almeria, life could still go on. People could still get together. Things that had to be done, were done. But the expectations were more modest. During most of human history, pre-clock, this must have been how life ran.2

But I still couldnt understand: even if they didnt promise to do things at a particular time, or even on a particular day even so, certain promises had to be carried out. The harvesters had to arrive for the harvesting. The carters had to come, to take the crops to market. How had society run, how had people lived, without following through on promises?

Many of these places had been in feudal societies. Sometimes the promiser had promised his lord or another higher-up that he would be there at a specified time. He was afraid to renege on his promise. This may be part of the answer. And part of the answer could be: these people were living together in villages. So you and another man were going to get together to do something? Then when you saw him you remembered. So you got together.

I would guess that many people in the Third World have to make some accommodation to our appointments. When dealing solely with each other, they might be able to live by the old pace. But modern economic arrangements penetrate into their societies. We say: Next Tuesday at two oclock. They agree to this. Then they are late, or they dont come at all.

When we make a date, we write it down. British people enter it into their diary. The pre-modern way not living by the clock and calendar is probably geared to many people not knowing how to read or write.

My son Mark says: when you promise youll do something, and then you dont do it, this is dishonest. You have lied. But, lying or not, this seems to be the way it works out. My Spanish informants would cheerfully agree to my next Tuesday at two oclock. (Anything to please los Ingles.) Then they would not show up.
The time-study literature is full of instances like this. But it is passed off as merely a different cultural style. No mention is made of the damage that is done to these societies.3 In my own notes, I have it for the Latin Americans in Miami (late is a Latin custom), for Uganda (do you mean two oclock African time or two oclock White mans time?), for Africa generally,4 for Bulgaria (building contractors), for countries in Robert Kaplans travel books,5 for airport scheduling in Caracas and in Iquitos in Amazonia, and for the Puerto Ricans in Oscar Lewis La Vida.

The psychologist Orin Sadler says: you can hardly blame the person in cases like this. It is a system thing. Anybody who was conscientious about keeping his appointments would be left waiting on the street corner.

In places like these, there are a few modern-style operators who do what they have to do, in spite of the unreliability of the surrounding society. These are amazing people. In my own experience, there was Mr. Wright, a small entrepreneur on Cat Island in the Bahamas. He died early, accused of witchcraft. There was also the mechanico in Mojacar, in Spain, a leonine old man who fixed our car. He made the car-parts himself, out of rubber and plastic and bits of metal. He couldnt rely on new parts being delivered.

This unreliability is a serious problem for businesses that are trying to deal with the Third World. In the United States, we have companies that would like to do business with Latin America selling to South American markets, getting parts from vendors. But this unreliability gets in the way. Different things have been tried, to ensure just-on-time delivery, agreed-upon payment, and the proper parts, delivered by vendors. At this time, a computerized system, B2B, is being used. It scans the production line of another company, which could be that South American vendor.6

On the positive side: Japan, South Korea, and China are reported good for reliability and punctuality. The East Asian nations seem to be learning their lessons well, as participants in the global economy.

What was reliability like in England? It was not perfect. One assumes that it was good enough. There were complaints about businesses sometimes paying late, and small building contractors starting work, then leaving for another job. I don't know how frequent these practices were. For the United States: reports are a little worse; some businesses, sometimes, not paying at all. One assumes that reliability is good enough for the economy to work. However, businesses in modern nations do use assurances such as B2B and credit-checks when they are dealing with each other.

Within the village of Clevelode, people were extremely reliable about doing what they promised for community projects. Edna and her friend could schedule the churchs flower rota six months in advance. Liz said: the small community probably helps for this. Where you know each other, you dont want to let them down. You would be lowered in their estimation. And, she said, the English conscience also made a difference. .and I would feel guilty. Your word is your bond means doing what you say youll do. But Lizs most telling remark was about the rare instances of unreliability and there were a few. These were a strain on the planners of events. Liz said: untrustworthy persons were like grit and gravel thrown into the works. It saved a lot of time and effort if you made arrangements and you knew that people would do what they said. On those rare occasions when a person doesnt come through, it is a rude shock.









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