The Dutch are big on advance planning. Your typical Dutch man or woman is indoctrinated into the tradition of “the agenda” at a very early age. Six or seven I think. They usually plan everything weeks in advance.

I have a few people at work who I’ve tried to get together with for a movie or drinks or the occasional game of poker, and the typical response you get when you ask someone if they are free is, “Hold on one minute [sound of riffling pages], let me see… I’m booked this weekend, next weekend too, how about three weeks from now?”

How about three weeks from now?

Come on people! How about you break free from the shackles that bind you and just freaking DO IT! It’s a MOVIE! Or an evening of drinks. It’s SUPPOSED to be spontaneous, it’s a casual gathering of friends.

To my way of thinking, being friends with someone means that I don’t HAVE to schedule face-time. Being friends means that you can call someone up and say, “Hey, feel like shooting some pool? Yeah? Okay, meet you at the bar in an hour.”

I schedule my work appointments. I schedule vendors. And colleagues. And meetings. I don’t schedule my friends to the point that when they indicate that they want to spend some time with me, I tell them that they should take a number and wait for a good few weeks.

I haven’t mustered the courage to sneak a peek, but I wonder if they plan out their sex lives too

Categories: Europe

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