Not being in Europe, I don't know if this is true. My German ancestry definitely dominates over my UK and Irish ancestry! I always time arrival to arrive at exactly the agreed upon time. In fact, I arrive earlier because of concern about traffic. Otherwise I become too anxious. It's much more pleasant for me, if I'm not late. Maybe it's my midwestern roots and not ethnicity?
I've got some German in me, according to my DNA and lived in Germany so, yeah, I'm always on time or a bit early. I've always been that way. I don't want to inconvenience others by making them wait for me to arrive.
My grandfather was born and grew up during the British rule over here. So I was told that he would set his wrist watch 5 minutes ahead of the actual time. As being 5 minutes early was being on time. Immediately after World War 2, in the mid 1940s, started the struggle for independence from the British, (after being left all black and blue as well as bankrupt thanks to Nazi Germany, colonials no longer had any power to stick around) - So my grandfather started working for and around Mr. M. A. Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan. I'm told that around Mr. Jinnah, now my grandfather had to set his wristwatch 20 minutes ahead! That's how it was like when we were fighting for our independence - Which we soon got! But now, 79 years down the road since independence, punctuality is such that if you want someone to be there at 12, you better specify the day of the week and date too - Or we'll assume that you must be talking about 12 at tomorrow, or the day after...
And exactly like Sir Isaac Newton's laws of motion - It takes a long time for us over here to get something started on time. But whenever it does get going, we also don't know when to stop... Like on wedding invitation cards you'll see the time 19:00 hours. But if you go there at the correct time, you'll just be sitting alone - Also being late is now associated with status. So the more important a person you are, the more late you're expected to arrive, (believe it or not)... So the bride and groom will probably arrive around 22:00. Dinner will be served well after midnight, and the party will continue at least until 04:00 in the morning. This disgusting rot has now set so deep into the culture. That if you arrived on time, people will laugh at you and assume that you're a nobody, or must be underprivileged, (as only the hired help is expected to be anywhere on time). Because high flying big people are always late. It's actually a competition here, that I must arrive after others I know, who got invited alongside me. As this way it would seem like I'm more important than them! It's all true I swear, I'm not making it up - Feel free to do an independent search about this yourselves online... Anyway I of course have a fix for this. Which is that I send someone else with a gift, as well as a note. Saying that sorry I could join you guys, as I'm extremely busy - This way I beat everyone else who'll be late, as I wasn't the most late person, I simply didn't even arrive! This way I get to avoid weddings, (which I never liked anyway) - Also I detest being looked at by elderly couples, as a "potential suitor" for their decaying daughters, (weddings are the hunting grounds for such desperate people, as for them now time is running out pretty fast)... Therefore I just order a burger or a pizza online. Than scream at the delivery boy, as he too is always late, (as he also now has to make a point about how important he is)!
When I first lived in Sweden I used to get in trouble with meeting times as when they say "half seven" it means 6:30, not 7:30 as it means in Ireland. So I would be an hour late
No matter how hard I try to be on time I’m always late everywhere. Either over committing or chronic lateness which some call ‘time blind.’ I have been told that I experience a different internal time clock and my perception of time is some what clouded . I just seem to loose track of time very easily. Like one thing leads to another and ….its 5 o’clock all of a sudden when I thought it was 3 o’clock. Except for meals I’m always on time..
I was always confused about that. It's the same in Germany. Whenever anyone would say "half " something it would boggle my mind and I repeatedy would ask them what time they meant, which then made the person stare at me like I had two heads !!
I also used to set my wristwatch 5 minutes ahead. But somehow that just made me even earlier than I would have been anyway. Now I use the Apple Map app. It gives me an ETA. I still arrive early, but the apps usually adjust ETA for traffic, so I stress a little less. For my friend from China, if you say "arrive at 12:00", that's the time he leaves from home.
To avoid such misunderstandings, I do 2 things. I ask you mean 6:30 right? But I do something else, which is that I ALWAYS use military time. So I ask you mean 18:30? This not only solves my (dyslexic) problem since childhood, as I still have trouble figuring out AM/PM nonsense - But also corrects any misunderstandings which often arise. Because of such thing, and my obsession with punctuality, (plus arrogance) my siblings In childhood tauntingly called me Mister Phileas Fogg, (from Around The World In 80 Days)...
