The Eleventh-Hour Syndrome @ Being fashionably late

Last Friday was the third day of my post-examinations honeymoon. It was an exciting relief that my supposed-to-be last examination ever ended a week after the examinations period began. Early that morning, I drove from my home to Kg. Pertama, a village just a short walk away from UiTM, where a friend was expecting me to join him for breakfast.

While at the Politeknik Seberang Perai junction waiting for the traffic light to go green, I noticed the car behind me via the rear-view mirror were full of girls. It's not the girls that I'm interested in, it's their situation that attracted me.

I noticed that a UiTM student's vehicle pass (sticker) was displayed at the far end of the mirror, thus I assumed them to be students heading for the campus. There were three of them; the driver was checking her eyelids, the front passenger seemed somewhat nervous, the passenger behind was going through her lecture notes.

I noticed that the clock showed 8.23am, approximately 7 minutes before the next examination session was due to commence.

"Good Lord, they are late for their exams..."

A few seconds later, I drove through a kampung (can't remember the name) at 65km/h, approximately 5km/h above the legal speed limit. I gazed behind, and saw that I was drifting away from the girls' car. Thus, I corrected my statement,

"They're not late. They're bloody fashionably late!"

I can't seem to understand why people tend to perform everything, or anything whatsoever at the eleventh hour (last minute). Whatever they do, they tend to perform it upon reaching the end of the line:

1. Appointments
2. Meetings
3. Assignments

Surprisingly, even when driving, do they tend to perform the eleventh hour syndrome. How's that? It occurs at junctions or highway exits. Drivers were informed of any given junction / exit. There is even a considerable stretch of lane designated for the junction. Yet, these drivers tend to stick to the main lane, and make a turn only upon reaching the divider, no signals whatsoever, giving trouble to the drivers on the main lane, and those already on the dedicated lane.

What bloody idiots!!!

Throughout my life in the world of societies, I attended numerous meetings, either as a participant or as the chairman cum organizer of the meetings. In both cases, the eleventh-hour syndrome became a common plague amongst the members.

Being late is one. Failing to inform of late arrival initiates the plague, arriving fashionably late without any sense of guilt turns it deadly cancerous. Don't these people ever think of the people who turn up early, some earlier than the appointed time, so that the meeting can begin on time, and possibly end early?

A few months back, I attended a communion amongst brothers. I was new to them, so I took the oppurtunity to express my stand, one of them being my despise for the eleventh-hour syndrome.

One of them told me,

"I do not deny that we have the habit of performing our jobs last-minute. But, upon the end of our jobs, we feel satisfied with what we have done."

You may feel satisfied. But deep in your heart, do you reaaaaaaaaaaally feel satisfied? Surely there must be a sense of guilt, pressure, anxiety, exhaustion deep within you. Have you thought to consider others who had to have their scedule altered or re-altered just to wait for you to pass on your job to them?

When it comes to appointments, it ain't anything different, mate. It's the same story. People tend to arrive 20 to 30 minutes beyond the appointed time. Surprisingly, it seems to be a fashion, when one gets up to wash him/herself 10 minutes before the appointed time, leaves the house at the appointed time, arriving 20 to 30 minutes after the appointed time.

No wonder we're known for our Janji Melayu. The one race that takes time lightly, struggling to keep up with time only when they approach the end of the line. The one race that disrespects others of their time.

Almost every nation have their own proverbs regarding time. The Chinese,

"Time is money."

The Malay,

"Time is gold."

In fact, Islam too emphasises on time. In Islam, time is life. Treat life well, and you'll live well, Do otherwise, and you're doomed to damnation.

We hear people being fined for maniac driving, or just being 'plain stupid'. Some come to the extent of being involved in accidents. Most of them, when asked of their 'stupidity', their excuses are simple,

"I'm LATE for xxxxxxx..."

That's what you get for mistreating or underestimating time, without any reasonable explanations for performing so. If for some reason, you were unable to evade it (reason for being late for anything whatsoever), then that is no problem, provided that you inform others of your minor glitch.

To those out there, who have the habit of mistreating time, or have no respect whatsoever for it, and others affected by it, I urge you to change your way of living. Not only do you create chaos for others, you are doomed for humiliation throughout your lives.

وَٱلۡعَصۡرِ (١) إِنَّ ٱلۡإِنسَـٰنَ لَفِى خُسۡرٍ (٢) إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ وَتَوَاصَوۡاْ بِٱلۡحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوۡاْ بِٱلصَّبۡرِ

By (the Token of) time (through the Ages), Verily Man is in loss, Except such as have Faith, and do righteous deeds, and (join together) in the mutual teaching of Truth, and of Patience and Constancy.

(Al-'Asr; 103:1-3)