I want to be very sincere in response to this prompt;
"Are you usually late or early? What does punctuality mean to you and how do you feel people perceive it and respond to it?"
I like to adopt the lifestyle of "African time" when it comes to going places.
African time, as it's known to many people around the world(with different names to it), is the habit of adding extra time to the exact time given for a function before going. For example, if an event is supposed to start at 10:00 am, there's a tendency for people to waste time before it kicks off, so there's no need to be there at the exact time unless you want to wait and get tired.
I'm very fond of this habit because I hate to sit and wait for an event to start. I dislike seeing people running around trying to get the event started when they had all the time to do so. I also dislike seeing people relaxed and waiting for others to come before starting the event. I just hate it.
So, to avoid those scenes, I prefer to be the person they're waiting for. I prefer to be called a "latecomer" and see the event already started rather than being the one calling others "latecomers." You can't blame me; there are many people like me in this category.
The only time I keep to schedule is during exam periods because the exam management at my school is very strict. If a student arrives late, they make the student stand for about 40 minutes before allowing them to write.
If general occasions were managed like that, I know I would have adjusted my lifestyle and become a very punctual person. But as it is now, I just want to remain a latecomer because it's actually interesting too. Lol.
The biggest funny thing is that, a lot of people don't like this kind of lifestyle. They wished the lateness thing is abolished but it can't happen. It's in our lifestyle already and it can't be removed. Even the ones that complain are oftentimes the ones making big moves on it.
Thanks!
I used my own photo