Time

美國人的時間觀

What is time? Is it a thing to be saved or spent or wasted, like money? Or is it something we have no control over, like the weather? Is time the same all over the world? That's an easy question, you say. Wherever you go, a minute is 60 seconds, an hour is 60 minutes, a day is 24 hours, and so forth. Well, maybe. But in America, time is more than that. Americans see time as a valuable resource. Maybe that's why they are fond of the expression, "Time is money."

時間是什么？是一種像金錢一樣可以節省、花用或浪費的東西嗎？或者它像天氣那樣，是一種我們無法掌握的東西？全世界的時間是不是都一樣呢？你會說，那是一個簡單的問題，不管你去那里，一分鐘都是60秒，一小時是60分鐘，一天是24個小時，以此類推。嗯，也許是這樣吧。但是在美國，時間的意義不只是如此而已。美國人視時間為一項重要的資源，也許這就是為什么他們喜歡說「時間就是金錢」的緣故。

Because Americans believe time is a limited resource, they try to conserve and manage it. People in the U.S. often attend seminars or read books on time management. It seems they all want to organize their time better. Professionals carry around pocket planners-some in electronic form-to keep track of appointments and deadlines. People do all they can to squeeze more life out of their time. The early American hero Benjamin Franklin expressed this view best: "Do you love life? Then do not waste time, for that is the stuff life is made of."

美國人認為時間是一項有限的資源，所以他們試著去愛惜時間且加以管理。美國人經常參加有關時間管理的研習會或閱讀這方面的書籍，他們似乎都希望能把自己的時間安排得更好。專業人士隨身帶著口袋型記事本，有些甚至是電子的記事本，好隨時留意所訂的約會與工作截止日期。人們想盡辦法要在有限的時間內擠出更多的時間來。早期的美國英雄班哲明?富蘭克林將這種想法表達得最淋漓盡致：「你愛生命嗎？如果愛就不要浪費時間，因為生命即是由時間組成的。」

To Americans, punctuality is a way of showing respect for other people's time. Being more than 10 minutes late to an appointment usually calls for an apology, and maybe an explanation. People who are running late often call ahead to let others know of the delay. Of course, the less formal the situation, the less important it is to be exactly on time. At informal get-togethers, for example, people often arrive as much as 30 minutes past the appointed time. But they usually don't try that at work.

對美國人來說，守時是一種尊重他人時間的表現。通常若約會遲到超過10分鐘，就應該向對方道歉或解釋原因。知道自己會遲到的人往往會先打個電話，讓對方知道自己會晚一點到。當然，會面場合愈不正式，精確準時的重要性就愈小。舉例來說，在非正式的聚會中，人們往往會在約定時間過后30分鐘才到，不過，他們上班通常就不會這樣做。

American lifestyles show how much people respect the time of others. When people plan an event, they often set the time days or weeks in advance. Once the time is fixed, it takes almost an emergency to change it. If people want to come to your house for a friendly visit, they will usually call first to make sure it is convenient. Only very close friends will just "drop by" unannounced. Also, people hesitate to call others late at night for fear they might be in bed. The time may vary, but most folks think twice about calling after 10:00 p.m.

美國人的生活型態表現出他們對別人的時間有多尊重。當人們在計劃一項活動時，通常會在幾天或幾個星期前把時間定好。時間一旦決定，除非情況緊急，否則不會輕易改變。如果有人想到家里拜訪你，他們通常會先打電話過來，以確定你是否方便，只有很熟的朋友才會未經通知就突然造訪。同時，人們也不太喜歡太晚打電話給別人，因為怕對方已經上床睡覺了。何時才算太晚并不一定，不過，大部分的人若想在晚上10點鐘以后打電話，都會再三考慮。

To outsiders, Americans seem tied to the clock. People in other cultures value relationships more than schedules. In these societies, people don't try to control time, but to experience it. Many Eastern cultures, for example, view time as a cycle. The rhythm of nature-from the passing of the seasons to the monthly cycle of the moon-shapes their view of events. People learn to respond to their environment. As a result, they find it easier to "go with the flow" than Americans, who like plans to be fixed and unchangeable.

對外人而言，美國人似乎很依賴時鐘；其它文化背景出身的人則看重人際關系甚于時間表。在那些社會型態中，人們不會設法去控制時間，而是去經歷享受它。舉例來說，很多東方文化把時間視為一個周期。從季節的更替到每個月亮圓缺變化的周期，這些大自然的節奏塑造了他們對事情的看法。人們學習去因應環境的變化，因此他們比美國人更容易視情境而作彈性的應變；而美國人則喜歡將計劃固定好不要更動。

Even Americans would admit that no one can master time. Time-like money-slips all too easily through our fingers. And time-like the weather-is very hard to predict. Nevertheless, time is one of life's most precious gifts. And unwrapping it is half the fun.

不過連美國人都承認，沒有人能夠完全掌握時間。時間就像金錢一樣，很容易就從我們的指間溜走；時間也像天氣一樣，是很難預測的。然而，時間是生命中最寶貴的禮物之一，而拆開（這項難以掌握和預料的）禮物本身就已經是一種樂趣了。