Spanish efficiency

Spaniards are valuable companions for their good cheer, willingness to party at any time and in any location, and their unusually good fashion sense (mullets aside).

Spaniards, however, are subpar companions if you wish to do anything on the following list: anything involving efficiency, anything involving deadlines of any kind, anything that needs to get done in a timely manner, anything that involves a goal that you would actually like to accomplish.

I realize that my vision is tainted by the simple fact that I am American, and Americans are known to be particularly touchy about productivity, so I'm willing to grant that I'm not a neutral observer. But still.

There is construction near my apartment on a project that was supposed to be completed in 2007. Two thousand seven. It was delayed, half-finished for many years because of financial concerns, and now the construction company is blowing through deadline after deadline for actual completion dates. Yesterday was supposed to be the grand opening, but it wasn't. It's the third or fourth time it's been postponed on the actual day of.

It's not just on a societal level. On a personal level, Spaniards are shockingly and maddeningly averse to, well, hurrying it up a bit.

Teachers wander their classrooms handing out worksheets one by one to students - I don't think they've ever heard of the old "take one and pass one" American standard.

The man at the library who checks out my books stamps one book, puts the stamp away, then takes it out again for the next person in line.

When my boss had a simple question for all the teachers on staff  she went to every class, one by one, and interrupted the lesson while she chatted with each teacher to ask her question. Getting all the answers took her two days. She could have just asked for a show of hands in the faculty meeting. Two minutes and done.

Again, Americans are famous for their obsession with saving time, so who's to say it's not all in the eye of the observer? Maybe it's better that way. Their system works for them (...although I'm not sure a certain Angela Merkel would agree...)

But sometimes, the American in me really wants to take over for about five minutes and just make everything a little more streamlined, run a little smoother, trim a little fat from all the unnecessary time wasters.