Clocks Rule The World
It's generally acknowledged that people from Germanic language group are the most time-conscious of all cultures around the world. Some say that they are so sensitive to being punctual that in doing business with them, even a few minutes'
late may cause your deal to go sour. The machanical equipment made to measure time seems to have played a critical role in defining the character of this group
of people.
Idioms containing the word "clock" are thus especially popular among these people. Take English for example, you work twenty-four hours a day or you study around the clock; to get this work done, you'll have to work against the clock; he'
s such a workaholic that he's always fighting the clock; the clock must go ahead
that any efforts to turn back the clock will go for naught; in recently days, when people go to work they have to clock in and when it's time to go home they clock out; he's such a clock-watcher that he'll end up getting fired someday -- even one's appearance relates to clock: he's so ugly that his face can literally
stop the clock!
Clocks work like a clock; it never get to work late nor go home early. So important is the clock that people never seem to tire of having clocks around. Everybody has a clock, whether that free-standing "grandfather" around the corner or
the one hanging on the wall, in his living room or bedroom. And in offices, hotels and restaurants! Though people today are no longer much into wearing wristwatches, they have clock embeded in their cellphones. That's right -- almost every
portable digital products have clocks: other than cellphones, you have PDAs, handhelds, MP3 players, PMPs (Portable Media Player from Microsoft), GPS devices .
.. People also have clocks in their cars. It's reported that clothes with a clock built in will soon be available!
Some are not so fond of this man-made machinary, though. They argue that mankind should not let this tiny little thing control its life. People now do everything including eating and turning in according to the orders from the clock, they
complain. Eat when you feel hungry and go to bed when you are sleepy; this is how you get rid of the domination of the clock, they suggest. Having taken it for
granted for so many years that we should all do things according to timing, their anti-clock theory certainly makes me confused -- is it a virtue to be punctual, or is it a mere blind deference to a, whether electronic or machanical, device?
Pan.
