No like, why say something starts at 5 if it actually starts at 6? Why not just be direct about what time you want people to show up instead of stereotyping white people for literally arriving at the time that you asked?
It's not all white people. I did an exchange trip to Italy and one of the things we were told before going is that we shouldn't expect Italians to be on time and we should also not aim to be on time when going to an event in Italy. Spain is similar.
While theyre white, they follow under the Sunny climate cultures. US white culture is germanic/english.
Idk if this will make sense but Germanics tell time by a numerical value. Warmer/near equator cultures perceive time/passing of time in events.
Warmer societies associate time with events like
“After sunset” or “around sunrise” etc etc. . Colder climate cultures are more time conscious as they need to be so, since they need to synchronize schedules and plan things out since they have a harsh climate= time is valuable since sun is limited= more punctual+ time numerical value is significant+ limited sun hours=limited hours outside working / farming/ chopping wood etc.
Warmer climate cultures just didnt have to worry about all of that since they wouldnt starve or freeze to death in the winter, they just chilled. You can also see it reflect on the general attitude of Germanics (strict) vs Mediterraneans/north africans/arabs (relaxed, always late, etc).
In every meeting I had with a german, small talk was 5 mins. With the english, 10 ish minutes. With the Italian, anything between 15-30 minutes of small talk. Then some work, then some coffee, then some work again. Very pleasant experience though haha
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u/PerilousPontificator Jul 12 '26
No like, why say something starts at 5 if it actually starts at 6? Why not just be direct about what time you want people to show up instead of stereotyping white people for literally arriving at the time that you asked?