I’ve been hypothesizing in my mind that there may be some relationship between cold weather and punctuality.
It seems to me that the closer to the equator you get, the less people seem to be driven to be on time. I live in Maine, and if I had arranged to meet a friend at a restaurant at five o’clock for supper, we’d likely both be there at least 5 minutes ahead of time. But in warmer climes, a five o’clock meeting time would be just as likely to see people arriving at five-thirty or closer to six. Being almost an hour late here is viewed as incredibly rude; but in places like Mexico and a few Caribbean Islands, it’s closer to the norm, and showing up on time makes you the oddball.
My hypothesis is that northern cultures developed this punctuality as a necessity, due to the shorter number of daylight hours in the winter months. Since there was less daylight to work with, working on a schedule became important. The closer you get to the equator, the more daylight you get in the winter.
What do you think? I’m I just seeing things here, or is there some reason that cultures which originate from colder climates seem more punctual?
It might also be that waiting in very cold weather can be physically very unpleasant (or even dangerous, if it’s cold enough), while as long as one has some shade and access to water, waiting in hot weather is not as big a deal.
This is a wild guess, by the way- I don’t even know if your assumption that northern regions are more punctual is correct.
You can start with the obvious examples: are Eskimos really more punctual than New Yorkers? Are Chileans really more punctual than Brazilians? Are Tibetans really more punctual than Indians?
Once you have some evidence that your hypothesis is true, then we can discuss the possible reasons why. But at this stage I see no reason to believe it.
My functionalist hypothesis is that punctuality is related to the cost of being late. If you’re late to the luau you miss a serving of roast pig. If you’re late to the Althing Sven’s faction grabs your goats and daughters by eminent domain.
I think it’s an energy thing. I live in the UK but spend a lot of time in southern Italy. The heat in summer there is a real hindrance to activity, and its really obvious in the pace of life. Londoners are much more active and, as a result, efficient. I think the being on time thing is a by product of a more active, fast paced lifestyle. And waiting around in the cold is no fun either.
Where I live, it can get to 42c (108f). In the winter, the low is usually around 0c (32c)
Being late is still rude. I’m very unorganized, and I procrastinate a lot, but I always run around like a mad man to make sure I get somewhere on time.
Depending on who I’m going to see, and what for, I might be okay with being 5-10 minutes late, but that usually means:
with one of my very close friends
casual meeting, that doesn’t involve going anywhere or doing anything. Ie, just going to their house to hang out and chat.
and I always text them to tell them.
In any other situation, I try to be around 10 minutes early.
There could be geographical factors that influence this in some way. Closer to the equator the length of a day is more consistent, and midday would be the hottest part of the day, perhaps dividing daily time more than would be done closer to the poles. But I doubt that has much to do with punctuality which is based on clocks. I’d guess that instead of geographic location, the industrial centers of the world are located away from the equator, mainly north of it, and the needs of modern industrialized society are more based on clock punctuality.
There’s a study out there you could look for. I remember they went to lots of cities and checked a few things. One was how fast people on the street walked. One was how accurate the time was on clocks at local businesses. It was interesting that the places known for generating wealth and business predictably were faster paced and more accurate than others. Think London and NYC.
People from New England go to the Carribbean often and have trouble getting used to “Island Time”.
This is simply a bald assertion. In New England people are punctual, elsewhere they are not. Must be the heat.
Sez who? The OP. Not enough for me.
In a similar vein, before moving to Colorado I was told 'People are much nicer ot there than on the East Coast" having lived in both, you couldn’t prove it by me. Some people are nice, some are not in both regions.
I think the same holds for punctuality.
Unsupported statements often have nothing to do with reality.
