Part 3 - Two-way Discussion:

Discussion topics:

Arriving early

Q. In what kinds of situations should people always arrive early?

Answer: People should always arrive early in any kind of situations in order to get things done on time and properly. However, situations like appearing for any kind of examinations, job interviews, important official meetings, going to the airport to catch a flight, and arriving at train stations in order to board the trains come to mind. Besides, people should also arrive always early in any other situations where they made a promise to arrive “on time” if not any earlier.

Q. How important is it to arrive early in your country?

Answer: It is very important to arrive early in my country, it is so at least on “paper documents”, but in reality, it is not the case most of the times unless, of course, they are severely “penalized” for being late (which doesn’t happen most of the times either, unfortunately). As a result, we frequently see incidents of being late for works, important business meetings, and sometimes, even in job interviews, especially if people live in busy cities with bad traffic situations.

Q. How can modern technology help people to arrive early?

Answer: I don’t really think that any technology, modern or not, by itself has the ability to help people arrive early unless, of course, we are travelling by “bullet train” or aeroplane. Of course, modern technologies like smartphones and internet technologies, with their “mapping” software, can help us identify which roads have a better traffic situation in order to reroute and arrive early. Even FM radio stations can also provide regular updates on the traffic situation in order to help travellers arrive at their destinations on time or even earlier, but the truth is, unless people are really, really serious about arriving early, no technology would help that much.

Being patient

Q. What kinds of jobs require the most patience?

Answer: Having a great deal of patience is always good for any kind of jobs, but in my opinion, medical doctors/surgeons who are working to heal terminally ill person, elementary teachers who are teaching kids and children, electric technicians, call centre jobs which involves dealing with difficult and frustrated customers are some of the jobs in my country which require extreme patience. Besides, any other jobs, which are strictly “deadline-oriented” would also require the most patience in order to finish the jobs on time, no matter what the situation is. I also believe that 'mental health counselors', 'zoologists and wildlife biologists', 'animal trainers' and professional actors require great patience to do their jobs.

Q. Is it always better to be patient in work (or studies)?

Answer: It is always better to be patient in work as long as it helps people to get a certain task or job done properly once in a while. But, if the job is too stressful, and it is affecting the physical and mental health of a person in a negative manner, then it is not ok to be always patient in work. Besides, if always being patient means staying long hours in work to get the job done properly which negatively affect the relationship with families, it is certainly not ok. Finally, if being always patient at work means giving up better work opportunities at other places, no matter how terrible and unsatisfying it really is, it is certainly not ok either. However, when it comes to studies, it is always better to be patient because the more patient a person is in his/her studies, the more he or she learns.

Q. Do you agree or disagree that the older people are, the more patient they are?
Answer: I don’t necessarily agree with the suggestion that the older people are, the more patient they become primarily because there is no scientific data or evidence to suggest so. In fact, how patient a person really is depends on what kind of person he/she is and in what type of situation he or she really is in. Having said that, however, it can certainly be argued that older people, because of their age and experiences in handling different kinds of situations in different times, they would certainly know better about when to be patient and when not to be.