By Gloria Pazmiño
I scheduled an interview over coffee the other day. It went something like this:
Me: how’s 11 a.m? I’ll see you there.
Subject: yes that’s perfect, see you at 11, looking forward to it.
I entered the coffee shop, found a sunny spot before all this rain started coming down, ordered an octane-high caffeine fix, and waited.
And I waited. And I waited on to coffee number two. If I carried Bailey’s in a flask, this is where I would’ve put it to good use. My subject was late, so I recaffeinated and waited.
Yes. My subject was Latino, and this begged the question: Is there really such a thing as Latino time? Call it what you want – Dominican time, Puerto Rican time, Colombian time – are we always late?
Now before you start throwing stereotype and stigma arrows my way, know that as a Latina myself, I often suffer from the time bug. By often, I mean it’s chronic. And Living el Alto has only perpetuated my condition. As I slide into the culture and absorb its characteristics, I realize that maybe things are just a little bit slower in Northern Manhattan, and that’s not such a bad thing. Perhaps we should call it Alto time.
via Living el Alto: Not waiting in vain | Living el Alto.
Are you a local business?
haha, this is too funny.
but I think its a Latino and Black thing, because I know a lot of people from both sides that are super snail-like when it comes to time
Gloria,
Great article!
Por mas que quiero no admitirlo tengo que decir que tu articulo es totalmente cierto. I’m known in my family to always be late. As much as I try I am never early. My mom even tells me she believes I will be late to my own funeral (que dios lo prolonge lo mas possible). But I do have to say at times it’s not even me. It’s like this BAD LUCK us Hispanic man have to always be late even when we don’t want to. All I can do is try!!! Lol
By the way – I hope your subject showed up!! And if he did I hope you billed him for the extra caffeine boost you had…..Please don’t stop writing such enjoyable stories…..I always look forward reading them!
Randy Susana