Lapping up some of ‘manana’ holiday moments

The relaxed way of life the Greeks have was one that I was soon able to tap into and I actually missed the deadline for submitting my column.

It was only when I received an email reminding me, which I didn’t read until the following day, that I realised I had missed.

I had lost track of the days and although I had penned a piece together with the intention of submitting it in plenty of time I clearly failed to do so.

Although I was disappointed with myself for missing the deadline, something I strive to avoid at all costs in my line of work, it set me thinking about how easily done it is when you are relaxed and unencumbered by time constraints.

Our European cousins do not seem to be so concerned about such trivialities as we appear to be.

How often is it when on holiday in, say, Spain, Portugal or Greece that when you ask for something to be done you are told later or “ manana”?

I realise this can be frustrating, and I encountered this myself during this holiday when the fridge stopped working in our apartment.

Despite the fact we were told an engineer would be there immediately it took three days for anyone to come, although when he did finally arrive he was able to fix it.

The thing is that although we didn’t have cold beers on hand for a few days it wasn’t the end of the world. Just as my missing the deadline didn’t mean the literary world was in turmoil.

That said I will do my utmost to ensure it doesn’t happen again. You have been warned.