For the past week, I have been on a natural high about my special national day - National Thoughtful Day. I didn’t think it could get any better than that but I was wrong. When I was on the Nationaldaycalendar.com website, I came across another national day that was so perfect for me. National Be Late for Something Day. Ha! How is it possible that two national days which describe me can be celebrated within weeks of each other?

I will probably offend and perhaps be called out as being racist but… I’m Filipino and I’m always late. Yup, I just lumped all the Filipinos together and generalized my own race by saying that because I am Filipino, I am pre-disposed to being late. “Filipino Time” could mean anytime between 30 minutes to two hours after the designated start time. When I was in the Philippines in 1992 for a press tour, we only had one event scheduled per day. Due to traffic, we couldn’t attend more than one event per day and the time of the event was always obscure. No one expected us to be there at an appointed time. It was very loose-y goose-y and it drove me nuts because at that time, I was just starting my advertising career and I wanted to do more in a day than we had scheduled. I believe that because of this free-spirit, most Filipinos who live either in the US or in the Philippines are super chill when it comes to showing up whenever they want for family events. There is a peaceful understanding that we just get there when we get there. We can blame traffic, double-booking, sleeping in, picking up the present, making food to bring over, etc. But usually, we just gauge the ETA by the patterns we have shown in the past. For instance, my mom will start getting ready to go when the time of the event is supposed to start. It doesn’t matter if the party is an hour drive away or 10 minutes away. In other words, if the event is set to start at 3p that is when she will start getting ready to go. As kids, we were NEVER EVER on time for mass on Sundays because we left our home exactly when mass started. And the funny thing is - I would sit in church watching as other late parishioners (of a predominantly all-white congregation at the time) arrived later than us and coincidentally, they were also Filipino.

What I love about National Be Late for Something Day is that it focuses on the positive part of procrastination. After all, the Procrastinators’ Club of America was founded in 1956 by Les Waas and this national day was founded soon after. It is celebrated every year on September 5th and Nationaldaycalendar.com promotes three reasons why we should celebrate being late for something. I think all three reasons are thoughtful pinches.

A pinch for ourselves. - The first reason to celebrate this national day is to skip paying attention to the clock because we should live our day without worrying about what time it is. Ah, that is a true fantasy of mine. This might be TMI but I really fantasize about having days without any pressing time tables and that is because I’m horrible with time management. You may think: Duh, what was she doing during the Covid lock down?” Even when I only had one thing on the calendar, I’d be late because I was so used to having nothing scheduled. I would have to rush to make it on time or I even missed the appointment altogether! More perspective - I had the whole summer to be ready for school to start {we didn’t go ANYWHERE or take a vacation} yet I am still late turning in paperwork for school, signing up for hockey try outs etc. Let’s see if I can rise up to the challenge and celebrate National Be Late for Something Day on September 5th the way it was intended. I should “Be Late for Something” because I am busy enjoying the moment and not because I’m barely staying above water!

A pinch for others. - The second reason to “Be Late for Something” according to nationaldaycalendar.com, is to consider those who are perpetually late. We all know one or two people who are always late. On September 5th, it would be great to let go of any resentment brought on by consistent tardiness; see what it’s like to be in their shoes for once. This reason reminds me of a former roommate of mine. Even though I am always late (again, I use the excuse of my heritage) my Caucasian roommate was always hours late. It used to annoy all of us because we could never count on her showing up on time. One day many years later, I was the benefit of this. I was in town and went to visit her in Long Beach. The plan was for me to leave by a certain time but we ended up having a deep conversation. She nonchalantly looked at the time after about an hour and announced that she would be late to a family gathering that had already started. I felt bad and was sorry that she would be late on my account. She just calmly reminded me that I lived out of state so she didn’t see me often and that we needed to have the deep convo. Besides, she assured me, she sees her family all the time. Janet, my former roommate, had always been my modern day hippie bestie and this was the first time I had been the cause of her, “love, peace and relax “ excuse for being late to an event. The one thing we can count on when it comes to Janet is that she gives us her undivided attention and she never puts a time limit on it. She’s a gem!

A pinch for ourselves and others. - The last reason to promote National Be Late for Something Day is to consider missed opportunities. I have a few slogans when it comes to thank you notes. One is, “It’s never too late to say thank you.” I’ve also said, “If you’re late but thankful and grateful, send it anyway.” And lastly, “There is no expiration date to say thank you.” I feel like this can also apply for birthday cards, which is the example nationaldaycalendar.com offered. The timing of this reminder to “Be Late for Something” is so relevant for me right now. Over the weekend, I kept having a feeling that I was “behind” in letting friends and family know how appreciative I am for both wishing me birthday wishes on 8/28 and/or offering soothing words of support for the 20th death anniversary of my dad on 8/29. It was a feeling of guilt, hurriedness, anxiety and shame. I had to have a “come to Jesus” talk with myself and take my own advice. No one on Facebook cares about me individually recognizing their wishes on my timeline. I care about it and so I will be “late” in acknowledging the wishes and I have to be ok with that. Fortunately, with this national holiday around the corner, I will fit right in!