donwilliston
Jul 11, 2004, 12:26 PM
Post #1 of 3
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Everybody thinks that “Mexican Time” means “Late”. Not So!
This past Friday I engaged a worker to seal my roof, but he said he was very busy and would have to let me know when he could do the work. “OK”, I said, but “You will do it before the rain, Si?” “Oh, Si!” he replied – roughly translated that means “Maybe sometime”.
Anyway, less than a half hour later Poncho showed up and said “Let’s go get the sealer”, “Now?” I replied. “OK”!
We not only bought the sealer but he cleaned the roof and applied the first coat that very day! This was not what I’d planned on.
“For the next coat I’ll be here at 9am tomorrow”, he said. – roughly translated that usually means “Sometime”. He arrived at 8am. “For the third coat I’ll be here tomorrow at 2pm, there’s a wedding tonight so I will be late”.
By this time I’d gotten the idea and was not surprised when he arrived at 10am. But I was a little surprised that he had a helper, “I need help” he said, “It was a good wedding”. No extra charge; he did need the help.
“Mexican Time” is neither late nor is it early; it’s only an arbitrary measure relative to some other arbitrary measure. Maybe it’s our plans that have a problem.
Now it’s Sunday afternoon and my roof is done; that was not my plan. But Poncho, Francisco, and I are, at this moment, enjoying a beer; storms are rolling in across the pacific, and life is good enough to be true,
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"It's good enough to be true" Gracie Maurahan 1970
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