So a few days ago I got this particular experience that really got stuck in my brain and really pissed me off. So I've finally decided to pour it all out and perhaps I'll feel better at the end.
This is just one of those times where the anomaly in our society that has been normalized caught up with me and evoked a ranting spirit. I don't want to hold it in and believe it's better I just share it with you all, and take the weight off my mind and move on.
So a few days ago I had an appointment with someone who if everything went according to plan would be my part time boss. The story is that last week, a friend of mine shared a job opportunity with me about an organization that was in need of a part time video editor. So after a lot of wanting and forgetting, I finally applied on Saturday by sending my CV in through their mail, and I got an appointment for Monday.
So on Monday I got prepared and decided to be fashionably early for the appointment, clearing everything I had for later that day so I could make a good impression. The appointment was originally set for 3pm and let me point out that I got the message for the appointment through my Whatsapp on that same Monday morning.
I got to the office at around 2:32pm, fashionably early. As I expected, the Director who fixed the meeting wasn't on seat so I was told to wait. At exactly 3:01pm I sent him a Whatsapp message that I was at his office. 30 minutes later, since my phone was low, and I couldn't go online to check if he's replied, I decided to call him, and he told me to wait for him.
I have to say that I'm not a big fan of waiting for anybody, no matter who you are. I was restless and tired as I felt I was wasting my time away doing nothing. At around 4:30 I was given a form to fill, which I duly completed and returned.
At around 5pm I stood up and told the manager that I was leaving, only for her to tell me that the director said I should wait for him. The only thing that calmed me at that point was her polite manner and smile. She apologized for the delay with a very flashy and cute smile ☺.
Time went by and the director was still not here and at this point I was resigned to my fate that that day was wasted. I had waited for over 3 hours for someone who fixed an appointment with me without any explanations why he was late. At around 6:15pm he arrived and I thought 'finally' eager to just get this meeting done with and go home.
But then, No, he needed to attend to more important business before coming to me, and an extra 30 minutes passed.
Finally he came over to meet me and we had one of the shortest business meetings you can imagine, the meeting ending with no concrete agreement or decisions as my phone was dead and I couldn't show him my works (I was expecting that the ones I sent to him on Whatsapp would be enough).
This got me thinking, does it mean that some people's time are more important or valuable than others?
Why do employers derive pleasure in keeping their prospective employees waiting?
What if I was the one that showed up for the appointment 4 hours late, would he have tolerated it?
This has been a recurring element in our society (especially in Nigeria) and I believe some of us here has experienced it before. Sometimes people are kept waiting for long hours and then told to go home and come back some other day. And if you delve deep to check what caused the delay, you'd discover that they're just minor trivialities. What I would like to understand is if the whole idea of keeping waiting for such long periods is a test of patience, which I'd say is very inappropriate.
There's a popular saying that "what's good for the goose is also good for the ganda". I believe that we should be able to first of all exhibit the qualities that we expect from others. Truth be told I had other things for that day and the appointment came late and impromptu, but I still cleared my own schedule just so I could be there on time. But the person that fixed it treated it with so much levity as if it wasn't important at all.
I understand that perhaps he had business to attend to that might have been the reason for his late arrival, but he should've also taken my own time into consideration as I had been living before I indicated interest in the job. Because if time is really money, then you're subjecting me to poverty, while you continue to prosper and that's not fair.
We should understand that no matter what or who we are, everyone's time is important and shouldn't be wasted for anything in the world.
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