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Irish people and time keeping...

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12357…11

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    #122
    Biedronka
    Closed Accounts Posts: 71 ✭✭Biedronka


    beks101 wrote: »

    They just don't get the 'late' thing, it's a total taboo and they consider it the height of rudeness. I think they're a lot more literal than Irish people too...we tend to say 'meet you about 8-ish' or 'give or take 9 o'clock', which invariably means you add an hour or two onto that to get the real time...whereas here, they say eight and they mean eight! Sometimes I miss my 'late' self though, it meant I was a little more carefree and breezy about things and never had to wait on anyone!

    So, which way do you prefere?
    I was like that when I was a student, even though my one friend was horrible -she would always show up almost hour late, but I had a patience, because I had time! I could sit somewhere and sip a drink while waiting and by the way -you don't pay your friends for coming! :rolleyes: So this is a different story.
    If things are not about relax time and fun, but about some business, I think its hard to accept and I will never in my life call again somebody who was late!


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    #123
    fran oconnor
    Registered Users Posts: 662 ✭✭✭fran oconnor


    Biedronka wrote: »
    -you mean I took your job? :pac:
    My job of going to the pub?..


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    #124
    Biedronka
    Closed Accounts Posts: 71 ✭✭Biedronka


    hondasam wrote: »
    You could move if you are that unhappy with Irish people.

    No, thank you, I am very happy with one irish and that's good enough reason to stay. :D


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    #125
    uch
    Registered Users Posts: 7,008 ✭✭✭uch


    fran oconnor wrote: »
    My job of going to the pub?..


    Haha with a name like Fran O'Connor, your job is safe ;)


    Joking

    21/25



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    #126
    adomino
    Registered Users Posts: 110 ✭✭adomino


    Sooopie wrote: »
    certainly wasn't happy

    i have yet to meet a happy smiley polish person

    *generalise.com*


    sometimes, but only sometimes

    *The General

    we don't really complain, but i know one thing, if i was in another country i certainly wouldn't feel the need to come
    on to their national boards.nl.pl.cz.de. whatever and complain about something that happens worldwide.
    stop complaining! you're no better than ourselves, so please. "well in our country we have this, and we do things this way blah dee blah
    blah dee blah" we've heard it ALL before :/


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    #127
    beks101
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,802 ✭✭✭beks101


    Biedronka wrote: »
    So, which way do you prefer?

    I dunno, it's kind of about what's socially acceptable really. I feel more 'efficient' here, my time management is a hell of a lot better out of necessity, but I'd imagine if/when I come home I'd slip back into my old ways because there's no real repercussions save for a bit of annoyance on occasion.

    I've never had to wait on people before in my life until I came here and got in the habit of turning up on time...and I hate that. I'm sure it's karma for the years that I took the p1ss with people but I am not a patient person! So that kind of sucks.

    But I don't miss the embarrassment of having to come up with continuous excuses that everyone knows are made up and the stress of knowing that everyone's waiting on you. It's really unprofessional as well so it needed to be knocked on the head, I'd hate to think I was jeopardising my career because of poor time management.


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    #128
    Millicent
    Registered Users Posts: 4,559 ✭✭✭Millicent


    adomino wrote: »
    sometimes, but only sometimes

    *The General

    we don't really complain, but i know one thing, if i was in another country i certainly wouldn't feel the need to come
    on to their national boards.nl.pl.cz.de. whatever and complain about something that happens worldwide.
    stop complaining! you're no better than ourselves, so please. "well in our country we have this, and we do things this way blah dee blah
    blah dee blah" we've heard it ALL before :/

    There's absolutely nothing wrong with getting an outside perspective on things you might be blind to. It's like a friend having the decency to tell you about that annoying habit you have that is driving them mad. You can choose to get offended or you can say, "Hey. Maybe they're seeing something that I could work on."

    Questioning a situation is never a bad thing. Disagreeing without considering the point is.


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    #129
    Biedronka
    Closed Accounts Posts: 71 ✭✭Biedronka


    adomino wrote: »
    if i was in another country i certainly wouldn't feel the need to come
    on to their national boards.nl.pl.cz.de. whatever and complain about something that happens worldwide.
    stop complaining! you're no better than ourselves, so please. "well in our country we have this, and we do things this way blah dee blah
    blah dee blah" we've heard it ALL before :/

    :rolleyes: -because it is such a big deal to COMPLAIN ON BOARDS.. :pac: wow

    Sorry I was so annoyed with all this I just needed to know if this is normal or what the hell is going on!
    Give me why reason why I should stop complaining and I will. :cool:


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    #130
    adomino
    Registered Users Posts: 110 ✭✭adomino


    Biedronka wrote: »
    :rolleyes: -because it is such a big deal to COMPLAIN ON BOARDS.. :pac: wow

    Sorry I was so annoyed with all this I just needed to know if this is normal or what the hell is going on!
    Give me why reason why I should stop complaining and I will. :cool:

    "people and time keeping" and you can complain all you want then.

    complaining about the irish is nothing new to my ears. i could complain about the eastern europeans but that would be racist :cool: lithuanians and drink driving with no insurance, jayz i could go on.

    we hired a plumber this year, he was actually polish and was doing it for cheaper. he wasn't on time but plumbers are busy, traffic is busy, i've an understanding with this.


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    #131
    Dudess
    Closed Accounts Posts: 37,214 ✭✭✭✭Dudess


    AH - home of irony.

    Whenever an Irish person starts one of those dumb "We Irish are sh1te" threads there's an avalanche of approval, but when a foreigner makes a valid point based on sufficient personal experience they're accused of trolling, racism, told to gtfo/stfu and that their country is the most miserable one in the world (which it isn't, and what's that about racism from the OP?)
    There is a culture here of being too relaxed about time-keeping (guilty of it myself, but only with friends/family) and it's disingenuous to say it's the same anywhere. True, there are bound to be bad time-keepers in any country, but not always to the same extent as here.


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    #132
    Biedronka
    Closed Accounts Posts: 71 ✭✭Biedronka


    Thanks Dudess ;)


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    #133
    adomino
    Registered Users Posts: 110 ✭✭adomino


    Dudess wrote: »
    and it's disingenuous to say it's the same anywhere. True, there are bound to be bad time-keepers in any country, but not always to the same extent as here.


    not a very confident remark there, disingenuous perhaps?

    "but not to the same extent as here" might have strengthened your argument so since you sound unsure yourself, lets just agree here shall we, that its a universal thing where people are 'always' going to be people.

    are you a grumbled employer by any chance?


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    #134
    Dudess
    Closed Accounts Posts: 37,214 ✭✭✭✭Dudess


    adomino wrote: »
    Dudess wrote: »
    and it's disingenuous to say it's the same anywhere. True, there are bound to be bad time-keepers in any country, but not always to the same extent as here.


    not a very confident remark there, disingenuous perhaps?

    "but not to the same extent as here" might have strengthened your argument so since you sound unsure yourself, lets just agree here shall we, that its a universal thing where people are 'always' going to be people.

    are you a grumbed employer by any chance?
    No - whatever that is. And to say there's the same culture of overly relaxed time-keeping here in every country is bs. I'm not talking about individuals but broad social trends. If it's so universal, why would the OP highlight just Ireland?


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    #135
    adomino
    Registered Users Posts: 110 ✭✭adomino


    Dudess wrote: »
    No - whatever that is. And to say there's the same culture of overly relaxed time-keeping here in every country is bs. I'm not talking about individuals but broad social trends. If it's so universal, why would the OP highlight just Ireland?

    because they haven't gone universal? neither have i fully yet, but i ain't generalising about something that happens everywhere and for you to suggest 'we' have this 'overly relaxed time-keeping'? depends where you've been discovering this. some people are on flexi time, some work longer hours in the evening etc etc. perhaps you yourself work by a clock in machine, it all depends and its worldwide. you're still talking about culture, countries and not people :/


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    #136
    Chuck Stone
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,030 ✭✭✭✭Chuck Stone


    Ah shure it'll all work out in the end.


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    #137
    adomino
    Registered Users Posts: 110 ✭✭adomino


    Chuck Stone wrote: »
    Ah shure it'll all work out in the end.

    lol sure it will be grand :)

    http://grandgrand.bigcartel.com/


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    #138
    Dudess
    Closed Accounts Posts: 37,214 ✭✭✭✭Dudess


    Folks, Germans generally have the same relaxed attitude towards time-keeping as many Irish have. Apparently.


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    #139
    Chuck Stone
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,030 ✭✭✭✭Chuck Stone


    Dudess wrote: »
    Folks, Germans generally have the same relaxed attitude towards time-keeping as many Irish have. Apparently.

    Wow!?

    I found it quite the opposite.. in S.W. Germany at least.


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    #140
    Dudess
    Closed Accounts Posts: 37,214 ✭✭✭✭Dudess


    adomino wrote: »
    Chuck Stone wrote: »
    Ah shure it'll all work out in the end.

    lol sure it will be grand :)

    http://grandgrand.bigcartel.com/
    You agree with this assessment of the Irish psyche? Personally I think it's overstated, but I do think there's a relaxed culture here when it comes to some stuff. Not always a bad thing but sometimes goes too far. The OP observed it, otherwise they wouldn't have posted about it.


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    #141
    adomino
    Registered Users Posts: 110 ✭✭adomino


    Dudess wrote: »
    Folks, Germans generally have the same relaxed attitude towards time-keeping as many Irish have. Apparently.


    i knew it, the arrogance could be smelled offline. you obviously have
    a gripe with it and it's not 'apparently' its 'true' everywhere for everyone.

    so are we still the biggest drinkers in the world too? the most violent? the most laziest? the smelliest? the most promiscuos? the most ugly?

    criticise all you want missess, generalising is not good for you.


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    #142
    Animord
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,004 ✭✭✭Animord


    I have spent a lot of time living abroad (and have Swiss ancestry!) so have a certain degree of sypmathy for the OP's view. However, I think that if you want to deal in generalisations, the stuff that we/you love about Ireland - the general relaxed attitude to stuff, the friendliness, the healthy disprespect for authority has a flip side which manifests itself in being late, brown envelopes etc etc.

    I have a plumber who is NEVER ever on time, never mind on time - he can be days or ever weeks late doing stuff that I have asked for, and its irritating, but then if it is a true emergency, water pouring out of the roof for instance, he will be here in 10 minutes - he will drop everything he is doing for someone else and come and rescue me. This same plumber has an equally relaxed attitude to collecting money - "ah sure, pay me when you can, it'll neither make me nor break me" is what is usually says if I haven't got the dosh.

    Personally I think that (broad generalisations again) the lateness, the disrespect for my time, the breaking of the rules is more than made up for by the kindess, the sense of fun, the trust that it may not happen when I want, but it will happen eventually... its just the way it is.

    So really you can whinge all you like or you can relax and learn to live with it - its not always easy but the next time a total stranger stops and changes your wheel for you or the postman delivers you coal and milk and eggs, like happened me last winter during the big freeze, remember that this is the positive side of the annoying stuff.


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    #143
    ash23
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,791 ✭✭✭ash23


    I'd rather have someone who shows up late than someone who rushes the job to stick to schedule.
    My old doctor was a terrible time keeper. You'd always be delayed going to him. But when you went in, you were the only person who mattered and he'd spend as long with you as necessary.
    I'd rather that than some other clock watching hurry-hurry, mad hatter type....we're late, we're late, we're very very late!

    However it does irk me when friends are late, all the time! Thats just rude! ;)


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    #144
    maninasia
    Registered Users Posts: 4,616 ✭✭✭maninasia


    Animord wrote: »
    I have spent a lot of time living abroad (and have Swiss ancestry!) so have a certain degree of sypmathy for the OP's view. However, I think that if you want to deal in generalisations, the stuff that we/you love about Ireland - the general relaxed attitude to stuff, the friendliness, the healthy disprespect for authority has a flip side which manifests itself in being late, brown envelopes etc etc.

    I have a plumber who is NEVER ever on time, never mind on time - he can be days or ever weeks late doing stuff that I have asked for, and its irritating, but then if it is a true emergency, water pouring out of the roof for instance, he will be here in 10 minutes - he will drop everything he is doing for someone else and come and rescue me. This same plumber has an equally relaxed attitude to collecting money - "ah sure, pay me when you can, it'll neither make me nor break me" is what is usually says if I haven't got the dosh.

    Personally I think that (broad generalisations again) the lateness, the disrespect for my time, the breaking of the rules is more than made up for by the kindess, the sense of fun, the trust that it may not happen when I want, but it will happen eventually... its just the way it is.

    So really you can whinge all you like or you can relax and learn to live with it - its not always easy but the next time a total stranger stops and changes your wheel for you or the postman delivers you coal and milk and eggs, like happened me last winter during the big freeze, remember that this is the positive side of the annoying stuff.

    In the modern world it just doesn't cut it not to arrive on time. People can't be hanging around all the time, they have things to do, places to be. Just because people arrive on time doesn't mean they aren't friendly or willing to go the extra mile, what's the connection eh?

    When you don't arrive on time you are actually taking away other peoples time. It's not respectful in a way.


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    #145
    Animord
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,004 ✭✭✭Animord


    ash23 wrote: »
    I'd rather have someone who shows up late than someone who rushes the job to stick to schedule.
    My old doctor was a terrible time keeper. You'd always be delayed going to him. But when you went in, you were the only person who mattered and he'd spend as long with you as necessary.
    I'd rather that than some other clock watching hurry-hurry, mad hatter type....we're late, we're late, we're very very late!

    However it does irk me when friends are late, all the time! Thats just rude! ;)

    ARRRRGGG Doctors! I lived in the UK for years - trying to get a doctors appoinment took weeks, then you get ten minutes they don't even know your name. Here, the doctor can be an hour late, but I not only do I get to discuss what's othering me at length, but I get a full check up on everything else too.... (mind you, you don't have to pay in the UK! )


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    #146
    Dudess
    Closed Accounts Posts: 37,214 ✭✭✭✭Dudess


    adomino wrote: »
    Dudess wrote: »
    Folks, Germans generally have the same relaxed attitude towards time-keeping as many Irish have. Apparently.


    i knew it, the arrogance could be smelled offline. you obviously have
    a gripe with it and it's not 'apparently' its 'true' everywhere for everyone.

    so are we still the biggest drinkers in the world too? the most violent? the most laziest? the smelliest? the most promiscuos? the most ugly?

    criticise all you want missess, generalising is not good for you.
    You keep guessing stuff wrongly about me. :)
    It's not obvious I've a gripe, but anyway... I've said I can be late myself!

    Believe me, I despise all the self loathing a lot of Irish people go on with here too - but certain stereotypes have more than a grain of truth to them. E.g. Germans generally are more efficient, Irish people are generally more laid-back. I don't see how I'm being arrogant.


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    #147
    Animord
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,004 ✭✭✭Animord


    maninasia wrote: »
    In the modern world it just doesn't cut it not to arrive on time. People can't be hanging around all the time, they have things to do, places to be. Just because people arrive on time doesn't mean they aren't friendly or willing to go the extra mile, what's the connection eh?

    Of course not, there are plenty of nice people everywhere, but I was using the same broad generalistions that the OP did. Sure, its annoying, but I am merely trying to point out the positives that, to my mind, negate the irritating stuff.

    However, don't mind me, I am just in a good mood because the sun is shining and the plumber came fixed my central heating at 10.00 pm last night.


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    #148
    pragmatic1
    Registered Users Posts: 5,573 ✭✭✭pragmatic1


    I like the way we're not slaves to punctuality. Hate, hate, hate being under pressure to be places at exactly the right time. Takes the fun out of life.


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    #149
    HugoBradyBrown
    Closed Accounts Posts: 547 ✭✭✭HugoBradyBrown


    kfallon wrote: »
    Ye both need to get a dirtier mindset ;)

    I believe they are almost all 'tradespeople' or 'tradespersons' these days, with the occasional lady plumber.


    Hugo Brady Brown


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    #150
    Biedronka
    Closed Accounts Posts: 71 ✭✭Biedronka


    Animord wrote: »

    I have a plumber who is NEVER ever on time, never mind on time - he can be days or ever weeks late doing stuff that I have asked for, and its irritating, but then if it is a true emergency, water pouring out of the roof for instance, he will be here in 10 minutes - he will drop everything he is doing for someone else and come and rescue me. This same plumber has an equally relaxed attitude to collecting money - "ah sure, pay me when you can, it'll neither make me nor break me" is what is usually says if I haven't got the dosh.

    Personally I think that (broad generalisations again) the lateness, the disrespect for my time, the breaking of the rules is more than made up for by the kindess, the sense of fun, the trust that it may not happen when I want, but it will happen eventually... its just the way it is.

    So really you can whinge all you like or you can relax and learn to live with it - its not always easy but the next time a total stranger stops and changes your wheel for you or the postman delivers you coal and milk and eggs, like happened me last winter during the big freeze, remember that this is the positive side of the annoying stuff.

    I understand your point partially and I can only say that in "general generalization" :D I prefere nice funny irish LATE plumber then very serious and very much on time german one and I very much appreciate the way most of irish man are -really friendly, open, helpful, funny etc - but
    this still is annoying. :rolleyes:


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    #151
    Animord
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,004 ✭✭✭Animord


    Biedronka wrote: »
    I understand your point partially and I can only say that in "general generalization" :D I prefere nice funny irish LATE plumber then very serious and very much on time german one and I very much appreciate the way most of irish man are -really friendly, open, helpful, funny etc - but
    this still is annoying. :rolleyes:

    Its ok, I'm TOTALLY on your side now - the person I am meeting is LATE! :mad:

    But hey, I'll have a glass of wine and if his dinner is burnt then so be it!:p


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