Importance of time Essay Example for Free

Importance of time Essay Do to the fact that I could not maintain punctuality in a classroom environment I shall be writing an essay of the importance of punctuality in the United States Military. Now of course it seems like this would be easy to understand however I had managed to forget it and this shall explain it in this essay. Before you can understand how being punctual is important you must understand what being punctual means. Punctuality is the characteristic of being able to complete a required task or fulfill a moral duty before or at a specific time. There is often an understanding that a small amount of lateness is acceptable.. However in some cultures, such as Japanese society, or in the military there basically is no allowance. Some cultures have an unspoken understanding that actual deadlines are different from stated deadlines; for example, it may be understood in a particular culture that people will turn up an hour later than advertised. In this case, since everyone understands that a 9 A.M. meeting will actually start around 10am, no-one is inconvenienced when everyone turns up at 10am. In cultures which value punctuality, being late is tantamount to showing disrespect for anothers time and may be considered insulting. In such cases, punctuality may be enforced by social penalties, for example by excluding low-status latecomers from meetings entirely. Being at the right place at the right time for any member of the Army is extremely essential to the defense of the entire United States of America. Its because of this that being on time is remarkably important. Dependability, accountability, consistency and discipline are all crucially related to being on time. Furthermore, promptness also shows that the individual Soldier aims high and has their priorities straight. However, being where one needs to be at the appointed time will always be one of the most important aspects of being a Soldier. This is why failure to be on time not only severely hinders mission capability and readiness, but also can without a doubt cost unnecessary loss of life. It is important to realize that it is necessary for those in the Armed Forces are held to a higher standard. Being punctual in the military is important for many reasons, some of which I shall describe, right now. One of the few reasons for punctuality in the military would be if someone is late for a patrol or convoy that patrol or convoy might have to leave without that person, or maybe wait for them or can’t leave without them and be late to a rally point in which it is possible that it would cost some one  there life for you being late being late to a convoy and could lead to dire consequences. Not necessarily to you but to your battle buddies you let down by not showing up. While they are on patrol, or convoying to another area, something could happen that could either need your expertise and training or they could just need another soldier to keep watch of their area and without you it would take more manpower from less people to do the job that you were supposed to do. Or maybe the patrol you were supposed to be on could be ambushed and your weapon, your eyes and your training could be what makes the difference between your patrol losing soldiers or not. It is possible that if you had been there your patrol could have seen the ambush with the extra set of eyes watching, or taken out the enemy with the extra soldier carrying a weapon he/she was trained to use. Now being late could be what makes you lose battle buddies that could have survived if you were there to help them in that situation. Even more possible is that your battle buddies are on a convoy and it could have been your eyes that notice the strange object in the road or the slight discoloration, or maybe the disheveled earth of the road ahead of you that could have prevented your convoy from running into an IED. Or in another situation one might be on their way to meet someone from another country and showing up late would be looked at as a dishonorable and that you didn’t care about them or what they were trying to do. Also being late could also hinder your battle buddies at work. You being late makes your battle buddy who you are supposed to relieve stay later than he/she is supposed to, meaning that said person loses sleep time. Another reason might be because if you were going to relieve someone from duty on a guard duty it will make whoever your relieving have to stay at work. Therefor making them stay longer which then makes them tired and sluggish. And because they are because they are tired and sluggish, it increases the high chance that whatever work that person does would be under par and not up to standards because of lack of sleep. Which on a guard post they might fall asleep and someone might slip in or pass along some classified information to the enemy without any difficulty. Although the United States is not the only society that places a high regard on being on time, Americans in particular it would seem have been criticized in the past for being a highly time-oriented people, and some other cultures may not place the same level of importance on being punctual as exists in the United States today. This sense of being tied to a clock may strike some observers from other cultures as being downright psychotic, but the fact remains that the importance of being on time is an enormously important part of the American value system and it would be reasonable to suggest that this will not change. In addition, people who fail to be on time also demonstrate whether intentionally or not what may be considered as a callous disregard for other people and their time. In the United States, then, the importance of punctuality is well established and those who are even a few minutes late for say, a job interview, run the very real risk of losing out to lesser qualified candidates simply because they were unable to find a place to park in time. Similarly, people who are consistently late will be viewed as unreliable by most employers and also run the risk of losing whatever employment they have managed to secure in the first place. Being on time is one thing, but being early is completely different. When you’re assigned to be at an appointed place at an appointed time then there is no room for tardiness. Not only is it disrespectful to your co-workers in regards to making them stay later and putting them â€Å"under the bus† but also it is an integrity check and denotes your lack of responsibility. When you have a trend of being late none of your co-workers will feel as if they cant rely on you.