Why is it that most Latins do not keep their appointments?
Been to several Latin countries. Most of them can not arrive on time to carry out a business meeting. Even parties, they can't seem to start on time as they have agreed. Why?
12 Answers
Or maybe it's just a different attitude towards time and appointments? I know that the Italian and German people somehow represent the opposite poles of this: the first ones just think it's OK to be even an hour late, whereas the others show up at the meeting 15 minutes earlier.
Apparently the following method should work if you wanted someone in Spain to keep their appointment on time:
After agreeing a time for the appointment, you follow up with the question: "¿ la hora española o la hora inglesa?"
If they answer "la hora inglesa", not only would they have understood your question, but also they would be more punctual! Try it and see!
Many people of many cultures are not punctual.
Sounds like stereotyping to me.
No disrespect intended, but you have to adjust to the culture in the country where you are living. Now if you are meeting with highly educated persons then you won't have too much of a problem with the schedule times. But if you are dealing with the average person well thats is another matter. My advice is to relax your standards a little bit. Remember ,"This thou shall pass".
PS Former president William Jefferson Clinton was always late and 45% of the people loved him and still do. Mr George W. Bush was always on time and over 60% of the people in the USA did not liked him.So, the moral of the story is adapt to the conditions you encounter or play well the card that you were dealt.
Sounds like stereotyping to me.
Quentin said this....jeje, well not really. Actually, you are on time for a party: people will not even be ready and look at you with extranged faces. You are on time for a date? Be assured you will have to wait for the rest to arrive.
I am planning a party? I always say: party starts at 9.....so I will go down at 9.30 to be the....FIRST to arrive!!! 
It's a matter of culture. Learning a foreign language is learning culture too. Of course a delay may seem rude, but it depends on the situation. For instance, you invite your friends for a party at 8 o'clock. They'll arrive at 8:30, 8:45 or 9. This is very common and acceptable for us. It's weird for us having a party with a beginning and an end (8:00 - 10:00), which may be fine for certain cultures.
. Not me Lorenzo9 - I'm an early-bird!
Annie
Surely it matters what the appointment is? If I'm meeting clients at their place of work, it doesn't really matter if I'm late as they have other things to be doing, and even when I get there they might be in the middle of something, and they will just break for me when the two conditions - I'm there, and they're able to, are met. If it's a new client, I don't know the way they work yet, so it's more important that I am on time, especially if they have had to syncronise multiple people to be there - can't have them sitting around doing nothing just waiting for me.
Same in social situations. It matters not how late I am for a party if there's many people there, but if I'm meeting one other person then it does matter, as they're left on their own without me. Of course we live in the age of mobile phones and texting now, so coordinating a common arrival time is much simpler and allows for time drifing on either side with much less inconvenience to the other.
I don't understand why this should be a cultural thing... you either honour your agreements or you don't. It's very easy to give somebody a time-window if you know there's likely to be drift ("not sure exactly, should be between 10 and 11") and to bare in mind how not honouring an agreement with affect the other party. If somebody's coming out their way for you, you don't leave them hanging. If there's a common understanding, you just need to make sure that that is there with new people.
There is always tomorrow.
And, if one is not going to wake on the ´morrow ...well, it does not matter if one missed yesterday appointment or one was late. We don´t have the Germans´or Americans´attitude, all has to be done right now,this very minute.
You know what the few people( that, I know) born and raised in Hawaii have the same attitude that Latin American have.
Disclaimer, I am not talking for all humanity, 'am only talking for myself
Australia is the same way.
In islam it is In sha allah. Or God willing. If I am late it wasn't God's will.
