What time is it?
Stefano Capacchione, Creative Writer
Writing content to make your clients think, feel and take action. Native English writer at Puck Creations. "King of the wholesome blog" according to Jules White.
“What time is it?” Simple enough question, right? Still, there’s more than a few Hilarious Harrys who will answer “it depends where you are in the world”. “Look, Harry, I’m standing right here, right next to you, right now and I have a meeting at 12, I need to know the time because I’m worried I might be late. Now you’ve wasted more of my time! Arrggghhhhhhh!”
This isn’t a telenovela so I won’t take that any further but taking away the dad jokes, there is a serious point to be made about time zones. About a week ago, I had a very important meeting. (It was with a client, if I said it wasn’t important, we’d probably lose their business). So, this historic, mammoth, unprecedented, unparalleled (too far?) meeting was only a short while away and I was sure I had forgotten something.
Not to brag but I’m usually extremely well-prepared. Research done, video conferencing software set-up, stationary handy, laptop fully charged, everything in its place. This time, however, something felt wrong. The meeting was getting closer and closer. I could almost hear it bellowing “I’m coming for you” as its start drew near. Seconds and minutes passed until only minutes and seconds were left. I knew something wasn’t quite right but what was it? What had I forgotten to do?
Nothing left to ponder, I was just going to have to hope that everything was in order. I start the meeting and wait for the others to join. Still racking my brain for what could have gone wrong, I don’t notice the time pass. 10 minutes and nobody had arrived. What was going on? Then it dawned on me. The important thing that I had missed. My meeting didn’t start for another hour. It was scheduled 10am their time, not my time. 11am for me. Thankfully, it was that way around, I could still make the meeting. Imagine how much worse it could have been. Half an hour later, my calendar reminded me that a meeting was about to start…
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So, maybe Hilarious Harry has a point, it’s just not a particularly funny one and he didn’t choose the appropriate time to make it. Still, if you work or even socialise with people from other countries, it might be worth adding a little more to the question “What time is it?”… “where you are?”
That being said, anyone got the time?
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Championing the need for good health and balance in a vibrant working environment.
2 年oh I would have panicked too. I am always running to the wire, so 'what time is it' often echoes in my head as I head off to a meeting.
English teacher with a broad range of international experience.
2 年My immediate response, in my own head, was 4:30. And now I feel like my taste in music last century was questionable, to say the least ;)