Chilean punctuality.
You already know that Chileans love to use diminutives, eat completos, participate in marches and drink wine, but there´s another thing that we do stupendously well, which is not exactly positive nor amusing to all: Arriving late.
If you agree to meet with a Chilean at a certain hour, go thirty minutes later than that, and that´s when you´ll meet up. And I don´t say this being above the rest, at all, as I have constant problems myself with the ability to arrive on time. It seems like this is something intrinsic to our culture, one of those bad habits deeply rooted into our customs.
And this isn´t just for meetings, but also includes concerts, parties, meals, etc. All types of events. If an invitation to a party says "at 9 p.m.," we Chileans calculate another 30 minutes to an hour to our arrival time, because nobody wants to be the first; and of course, the thinking is all alike, so they wait longer and longer, therefore the party doesn´t really start until 11 p.m.
Perhaps because of that, it´s really late when people go out to dance in Chile, not wanting to be behind nor be the first to arrive, all go running. The worst is that it seems to be a contagious habit, as when agreeing upon an hour, you will see foreigners recalculating as well, obviously so as not to be waiting or dancing alone, because, as a Chilean would say, "Almost nobody arrives on time."
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