Cultural time (2)

I had a good laugh when I read how Lícia, who teaches in Brazil's Northeast, reacted to the concept of cultural time that I described in my last post. Not only that the kids in her school are usually some minutes late, she wrote, and that there are parents who want to pick them up a few minutes before the class is over, but also this: ten minutes before the class ends, the school secretary comes to her classroom to remind her that the lesson should soon come to an end!

My impression is that where time really matters, be it because of a medical emergency, be it because a lot of money is at stake, cultural time differences are not an issue. They only appear to come into play when people deem an activity unimportant, uninteresting, and/or superfluous.