Tuesday, April 16, 2013

L is for Llegar tarde

Llegar tarde means to arrive late.

My naive 18 year old self was about to start her first teaching assignment down south, and had to meet her new boss at 3 p.m. at place of employment. She decided to arrive 20 minutes early for good character, which put her at the locked doors at 2:40 p.m. to sit on the steps and wait. And wait. And wait. By the time 3:05 came around she was already getting antsy. What could have happened? Surely one doesn't arrive late to a job related meeting, even if she is the boss? At this point, she pulls out her notebook to check the time of the meeting. She checks with the store next door to see if her phone has the correct time on it. She asks passers-by for the time in case there has been a time change she wasn't aware of. At 3:15 she repeats the process. By the time 3:30 rolls around she assumes her new boss has had a family emergency and will be unable to make it. She phones home to see if there are any messages. Negative. She checks the time in her notebook. She checks the time in the store on the other side. She repeats every 10 minutes until 4:00. By this time, she assumes her boss has had a serious accident- perhaps been attacked by a pterodactyl- and in such a state that she cannot pick up her telephone. She starts grieving for her boss and sending good vibes to her for a speedy recovery.

Apparently they worked, because at 4:15 my boss arrived. "Oh, hello. Have you been waiting long?" My brain starts to argue with itself- is it a trick question? If I say no, she'll assume I was late, but I don't want to say yes because that might be rude and if I just shrug my shoulders and make a non-commital grunt she might think I lack brains...luckily during this inner argument the boss had gone on to open the door and wave me through while talking of something else. We had our meeting, during which I asked what time I should be at work. She said, "well the office doesn't open until 4, so don't be here before then." But...what? Why? Uh. And from that day on, this girl learned that being 15 minutes late for any kind of meeting is to be early. So, relax when you go south of the equator, otherwise you'll find yourself doing a whole lot of waiting.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Okay that's just scary!!
You have one of the most interesting themes I've read on the A to Z. I'll be back for more of the alphabet!
Connie
A to Z-ing to the end
Peanut Butter and Whine

Border-breaking bound said...

Wow, thanks! And thanks for dropping by! I'm also enjoying your blog! :)