Page 67 - Reading Between the Sign Intercultural Communication for Sign Language Interpreters

52 Reading Between the Signs

numbers. How will you know when it is your turn? The counter
person seems to be helping several people at once. But as you
stare at the confusion of milling bodies, you finally notice that
somehow everyone eventually gets served.
Glancing at your watch, you realize you must hurry to your
important business meeting so as to arrive on time and not insult
your host. Weary yet proud, you arrive on the stroke of the hour
but are dismayed to find that nothing is set up and no one else
has arrived. After what seems like an eternity, the meeting is fi-
nally convened. Trying to hide your irritation, you use up your last
ounce of energy to focus on the agenda at hand—making plans
for future business endeavors. Then, the last straw: all the other
participants in the meeting insist on talking only about the past
accomplishments of their company. Your eyes glaze over and you
wonder, “What is wrong with these people?”
Time, clearly, organizes our lives in many ways, and we can
view these from a cultural perspective. We can look, for example,
at the pace of a culture. If it has a comparatively slow pace, people
will walk, talk, and eat slowly, unhurriedly relishing the moment.
If, on the other hand, it is a fast-paced culture, its members will
move and converse more quickly and may be spotted scarfing
down their food, to their digestive detriment. This distinction is
not only applicable to other countries, but may be observed in
different regions of our own (e.g., New York City and Atlanta).
Another way to compare time orientation is to study a culture’s
degree of precision. Does the 2:03 train always arrive at 2:03? In
Switzerland it does. When the plumber in Mexico says he will
come to fix your drip “mañana,” does that mean he will assuredly
be at your house tomorrow? Probably not.

What Is Late?
Attitudes about time include the definition of what is considered
“late,” which also varies from culture to culture. One could char-
acterize the stages of reaction to being late as follows:
Stage 1: I am only a tiny bit late. No one will even notice, so I
don’t have to comment on it.
Stage 2: I am a little late so I will mumble a vague apology and
let it drop, as it probably bothered no one.
Stage 3: I am definitely late. I hope no one has been too in-
convenienced. I will make a clear apology and explain the rea-
sons for my tardiness.

03 MINDESS PMKR 52 10/18/04, 11:23 AM