"What time tayo tomorrow, 4:30?"
"Ah sige, text text nalang..."
There's hardly any doubt as to whether ICT greatly helps businesses, all things being equal. We've learned the practicality (and necessity) of harnessing ICT especially in commerce. It saves time, money, and effort.
But at what price, one might ask. ICT has created the "Text Text" phenomenon that has invaded our culture. One way or another, everyone's done it. It's the reply of "Text text nalang..." to any question about the specifics of a meeting or transaction. It's even evolved to the point where without any text message, the meeting or transaction is "not confirmed."
Back in the day when landline was king, when two people agree to meet at 4:30 p.m. the following day, they had to stand by that commitment. No last minute texts of convenient emergencies, no approximation of meeting time based on last text received, no bull, no choice.
Punctuality has never been the Filipino's greatest asset- hence the term "Filipino Time." And when you couple this with the Text Text phenomenon, boy you've got a recipe for disaster.
-Leo Rafael L. Quesada, Entry #10
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