Lesson 29

                              The Voices of Time

       Text A

    Time talks. It speaks more plainly than words. Time communicates in many ways.
    Consider the different parts of the day, for example. The time of the day when something is done can give a special meaning to the event. Factory managers in the United States fully realize the importance of an announcement made during the middle of the morning or afternoon that takes eveiyone away from his work. Whenever they want to make an important announcement, they ask; "When shall we let them know?"

    In the United States, it is not custorriary to telephone someone very early in the morning. If you telephone him early in the day, while he is shaving or having breakfast, the time of the call shows that the matter as very important and requires immediate attention The same meaning is attached to telephone call after 11. 00 P. M. if someone receives a call during sleeping hours, he assumes it is a matter of life or death. The time chosen for the call communicates its importance.

    In social life, time plays a very irrrportant part. In the United States, guests tend to feel they are not highly regarded if the invitation to a dinner party is extended only three or four days before the party date. But this is not true in all countries. In other areas of the world, it may be considered foolish to make an appointment too far in advance because plans which are made for a date more than a week away tend to be forgotten.

    The meanings of time dif#er .in different parts of the worid. Thus, misunderstandings arise;; .between people from cuitures that treat time differently. Promptness is valued highly in American iife, for example. If people are nvt prompt, they may be regarded as impolite or not fully responsible. In the U. S. , no one would think of kee.ping a business associate waiting for an hour, it wouid be too impolite. When equals meet, a person who is five minutes late will say a #ew words of explanation, though perhaps he may not complete the sentence.

    Americans look ahead and are concerned almost entirely with the future. The American idea of the future is limited, however. It is the foreseeable future and not the future of the Soath Asian, which may involve centuries. Someone has said of the South Asian idea of time : "Time is like a museum with endless halls and rooms. You, the viewer, are walking through the museum in the dark, holding a light to each scene as you pass it. God is in charge of the museum, and only he knows all that is in it. One lifetime represents one room. "

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