The Virtue of Punctuality

Sometime in 2018 as I was ransacking our home library, I came across a letter my brother Paddy wrote in 2004 when he was a student in the institute division of Starehe Boys' Centre. He was requesting the school administration to grant him an opportunity to go for a gap year to one of the foreign schools that Starehe was associated with. And he mentioned in the letter the virtues he had gained at Starehe. One of them was punctuality.

I also attended Starehe for my high school and college education. While I can't tell whether it was in the school that I gained the virtue of punctuality, I now like being on time when meeting a person. I also like it when the people I am meeting are punctual. People who keep me waiting irritate me.

One morning in 2019 for instance, I travelled to Nairobi to produce a hymn with a music producer named Jason. We agreed to meet at his studio at 10:00 a.m. But alas! Jason wasn't in his studio when I arrived there on time.

I kept calling Jason to ask him where he was. And every time he received my call, he would promise to arrive in a short while. When it clocked 2:00 p.m. and he still hadn't turned up, I began to run out of patience. I contemplated heading back home and demanding from Jason my down payment on hymn production.

On second thought, I decided to wait for Jason. He finally arrived at around 4.00p.m. Even though I admired his expertise and the quality of his machines whose software resembled the cockpit of a commercial jetliner, I didn't like the way he had kept me waiting for more than five hours.

Then last Monday, I commuted to Nairobi to produce another hymn in the studio of a fellow called Sylvester who charges me less cheaply than Jason. I came to like Sylvester because he can be at once kind and humorous. But last Monday, I saw an ugly side of him that I hadn't seen before. And that's a total disregard for other people's time.

Well, Sylvester and I had agreed to meet at his studio at 11:00 a.m. last Monday. Since I value punctuality, I arrived more than thirty minutes early. When I called to inform him that I was at the gate of the building that houses his studio, he didn't pick my calls. That made me hang around while enduring the sun which was shining brilliantly.

Because reading is one of my passions, I read the Bible as I waited to hear from Sylvester. The books I leafed through were Judges, Ruth, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther and Job. And wow! I enjoyed rereading the verses I had highlighted in my previous readings.

So much did I enjoy rereading the verses that my spirits started to rise. I especially remember learning from the book of Job that we should submit to God, accept His instructions and lay up His words in our hearts if we want to prosper and have peace. And from another book I have forgotten, I gleaned that it's unwise to gloat over our enemies' misfortunes.

Of course I kept calling Sylvester as I leafed through the Bible. But the fellow didn't receive my calls. When he eventually phoned me at noon, he promised to call me in 15 minutes, something he didn't do. And after he refused to pick my calls, I decided to go back home.

My trust and respect for Sylvester was diminished following his failure to honor our appointment. Had it not been for the moments I enjoyed leafing through my Bible, I would have considered my Monday wasted.

My beloved reader, I beseech you to cultivate the virtue of punctuality. Show respect for other people's time by turning up for appointments on time. And if you are going to be late for an appointment, have the courtesy of informing the person you are meeting that you'll be late. Punctuality may not be mentioned in the Bible but it is a great virtue.

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed the above story on the virtue of punctuality, you might also enjoy another one titled Deeply Offended.