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In Brazil, it is considered rude to be on time to a party

bbc.com

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Re: In Brazil, it is considered rude to be on time to a party

#12
post #4

Reminds me a lot of Thailand. We call it "Thai time". And it does seem to be worse in Bangkok than in rural areas. Despite the terrible traffic and resulting delays, Bangkokians are used setting out for a party at the time the party is supposed to start, thus arriving an hour or more late.

That’s funny, around Tahoe we call it “Tahoe time”. It’s really normal for people to be late here. It’s not taken as personally as other areas I’ve lived in. It’s something about that lake..

There are a lot of these and they usually do seem to fit the groups/locations/corporations in question. I've heard Mexicans refer to "Mexican time," and I've heard Mormons refer to "Mormon time," and various corporations also have equivalent terms.

Amusingly, a lot of these terms seem to have their origin in people who were really annoyed by the phenomena.

Re: In Brazil, it is considered rude to be on time to a party

#13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s funny, around Tahoe we call it “Tahoe time”. It’s really normal for people to be late here. It’s not taken as personally as other areas I’ve lived in. It’s something about that lake..

There are a lot of these and they usually do seem to fit the groups/locations/corporations in question. I've heard Mexicans refer to "Mexican time," and I've heard Mormons refer to "Mormon time," and various corporations also have equivalent terms. Amusingly, a lot of these terms seem to have their origin in people who were really annoyed by the phenomena.

In India we call it "Indian time'. Nobody is expected to arrive at a party venue before 1 hour past the announced time.

Re: In Brazil, it is considered rude to be on time to a party

#14
Having worked in London I appreciate this article being on the BBC. At least in the company I was employed people tended to be late to meetings as standard (10-30min) with the usual tube/traffic excuse....every week as thought this caught them by surprise each time.

It became a problem with meeting rooms being booked but empty so you would use and then get kicked out 20min past the booked time as the people turned up. The company eventually brought a rule if you were not in a room within 15min of the booking start time you lost it to avoid this problem.

I think some people in this enviroment would play to it as 'I'm so busy & important' but I always felt it was such a economic cost to the company having a bunch of people sitting there making small talk while someone was delayed.

Re: In Brazil, it is considered rude to be on time to a party

#15
post #3

I feel the same way even though I'm not Brazilian. If someone arrives early or right on time, I feel annoyed about having to entertain while I finish setting up or getting myself ready. I appreciate it when people arrive 15-45min after the party start time.

So you’re late... To your own party... :)

Re: In Brazil, it is considered rude to be on time to a party

#17
Anecdotally I find that some of the most successful people I know are chronically late, but I’m not sure if they are late because they are successful or successful because they are always late. I’d wager it probably has to do with whatever your reason for being late is. Being late because you are trying to maximize productive time is different from being late due to carelessness or procrastination.

Re: In Brazil, it is considered rude to be on time to a party

#18
I work with brazillians often, we have an office there. It's easy to accommodate as well -- I just do the same thing I do with my mother: tell her the start time is way earlier than it actually is, and then she is on time. For example if dinner is at 6:45, I tell her dinner is at 6:15, and expect her to arrive 30 minutes late.

You have to tweak it a bit for different situations (for example, a meeting, is about -15, a conference call, -10, but an after work event is roughly -30 to -60, but works well.

Re: In Brazil, it is considered rude to be on time to a party

#19
If any appointment is set to start at 7pm, I'm there at 7pm sharp or otherwise inform the host in advance that I'm arriving late and give an accurate estimate on when I will arrive (+-5 min). I find anything else disrespectful towards the host and, depending on the kind of appointment, towards the rest of the participants.

I guess some stereotypes on Germans are true after all...

Re: In Brazil, it is considered rude to be on time to a party

#20
I hope you all remember that Brazil is too big to assume that everyone is the same, thus everyone will be late to all appointments. It happens a lot, yes. But be careful to label people in advance. Many (!) Brazilians work overseas, including in Germany, and I'm sure those are not late as the article suggests for example :)

Also, what would be crazy for many people that live in small countries compared to Brazil, is that many workers live far away from their job or school. Up to 3 hours for a single way. It is also expected to have something not working in their way to their destination.

It's not a black and white thing. Writing a generic bold statement tends always to be harmful. Damn human brain that loves to find patterns to simplify information processing :)

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