Foucault defines the time table by having three great methods—“establish rhythms, impose particular occupations, and regulate the cycles of repetition.” (149) This means that specific acts become routine and everything is regulated by time. This time table was implemented in school, churches, and many social institutions. For example, think about our daily life—meetings are followed by agendas where a specific topic is discussed from a certain time to a certain time in order to adjourn the meeting at its designated time. Church lasts an hour and follows a routine schedule and ends at a certain time. Classes last 50 minutes depending on the credit hours and are at the same time either Monday, Wednesday, and Friday or Tuesday and Thursday. Everything is timed and everything follows a specific schedule.
But, could it be that urban life follows a stricter form of time table than rural life? This past Thanksgiving I went to my hometown in Ecuador and I always find myself very excited to go because there’s no such thing as “routine life” there. Usually in the workplace people have a 15 minute break and a 30 minute lunch break—depending where you work and the amount of hours you’re working. In Ecuador, people go on their lunch break and they go home and eat and whenever they’re done, they go back to work. There’s no time limit placed on the amount of time that they can have lunch for, however, they are asked to be considerate but there’s no punching in system in order to make sure that no one goes overtime on their break. Parents get the chance to wake up, make breakfast for their children, take them to school, go to work, come back home to have lunch, go back to work, and come back home to have dinner with their family.
Priority is not placed on time. Another example of this, is that when families are told to be somewhere at a certain time, families won’t get there ‘till maybe half an hour later. Everyone takes their time. Life is a lot slower and people live the moment. Life is slow-paced. Not like urban life where everyone is in a hurry and following a specific schedule afraid that if it is not followed, everything else falls apart. Its almost as if urban life is afraid to get rid of time and routine because its afraid of losing structure within a system. But people living in rural areas live a life that although may not be all about money and income, live a less stressful life and get to enjoy the little things in life rather than worrying about living a structured life.
Overall, implementing time table under CONTROL OF ACTIVITY—well, the title says it all “CONTROL” of activity--It is living a controlled life. Where time is given some sort of prestige and given power to control everything. But what is the fear of having church last for half an hour longer? For having class last maybe 15 more minutes so that professors can finish their thought? For having lunch last 30 minutes longer to enjoy a nice lunch with your kids and have them see you a little longer? It was sad to see that the new president in Ecuador has started to implement more 9am-5pm shifts—although it is more money for parents, the lifestyle will change and the percentage of kids in gangs has increased—for what? Because the presence of parents is very limited in the household since they are at work. Time should be given some leniency in order to really appreciate life but it has structured our society to the point where the majority can’t.
But, could it be that urban life follows a stricter form of time table than rural life? This past Thanksgiving I went to my hometown in Ecuador and I always find myself very excited to go because there’s no such thing as “routine life” there. Usually in the workplace people have a 15 minute break and a 30 minute lunch break—depending where you work and the amount of hours you’re working. In Ecuador, people go on their lunch break and they go home and eat and whenever they’re done, they go back to work. There’s no time limit placed on the amount of time that they can have lunch for, however, they are asked to be considerate but there’s no punching in system in order to make sure that no one goes overtime on their break. Parents get the chance to wake up, make breakfast for their children, take them to school, go to work, come back home to have lunch, go back to work, and come back home to have dinner with their family.
Priority is not placed on time. Another example of this, is that when families are told to be somewhere at a certain time, families won’t get there ‘till maybe half an hour later. Everyone takes their time. Life is a lot slower and people live the moment. Life is slow-paced. Not like urban life where everyone is in a hurry and following a specific schedule afraid that if it is not followed, everything else falls apart. Its almost as if urban life is afraid to get rid of time and routine because its afraid of losing structure within a system. But people living in rural areas live a life that although may not be all about money and income, live a less stressful life and get to enjoy the little things in life rather than worrying about living a structured life.
Overall, implementing time table under CONTROL OF ACTIVITY—well, the title says it all “CONTROL” of activity--It is living a controlled life. Where time is given some sort of prestige and given power to control everything. But what is the fear of having church last for half an hour longer? For having class last maybe 15 more minutes so that professors can finish their thought? For having lunch last 30 minutes longer to enjoy a nice lunch with your kids and have them see you a little longer? It was sad to see that the new president in Ecuador has started to implement more 9am-5pm shifts—although it is more money for parents, the lifestyle will change and the percentage of kids in gangs has increased—for what? Because the presence of parents is very limited in the household since they are at work. Time should be given some leniency in order to really appreciate life but it has structured our society to the point where the majority can’t.