Never before have I been so disturbed by the phrase, “In Due Time.” Normally, I donʻt question the integrity of the person who uses it, but today I do. I think there is an internal trust meter we all have as human beings. The more trustworthy the person the more leeway he/she gets for actually delivering on a particular time; less trust means lesser patience for us to wait.
I consider myself a very trusting person, but when a politician says, “You will come to know in due time,” I have to admit that my internal trust meter stutters to make it past 0 digit.
What is our trust meter saying to our conscience when that phrase is used by politicians, supervisors, parents, colleagues, friends, spouse, pastors, teachers?
What is the Chuukese translation of this phrase anyway? Is it, “Faan ew, faan ew..” or “Ou wetwet mwo?” Or is it, “Ekuh ngani rhak nge iwe…” or “Epwapw iwe…?” Or is it the more dismissive phrase from a chief or elder, “Alukuloomwo?”
How much time are we willing to give to elected officials who promise to provide answers in “due time?” What if we use that same phrase to politicians who ask for our vote? Will they believe us if we tell them, “You will come to know in due time.” Will they feel disrespected for keeping them in the dark? That’s basically what’s going on with this congressional resolution to terminate the Compact all together.
Yesterday, on Thanksgiving Day, my trust meter in the FSM Congress was an all-time low when my own FSM Congressman Robson Romolow used that phrase. The good senator was responding to my earlier post in which I questioned why he co-sponsored the Congressional Resolution (CR 19 – 155) to terminate the Compact of Free Association (COFA) treaty with the United States as early as 2018.
Hereʻs an excerpt from the short but revealing exchange between the senator (RR) and me.
Me: Whatʻs your plan for protecting FSMers in the US against deportation?
RR: You will come to know in due time.
Me: You have no plan? Why canʻt you tell the people what you have in mind?
RR: Its [sic] not the right time
Me: What is the right time?
RR: When our position is in a better shape
Me: What is the position? You mean you are still shaping a position yet youʻve publicly called for a termination of the COFA? And whose position is it? Northwest or Peteʻs [President Peter Christian]?
RR: Its [sic] part of the making. The whole federation
CLICK HERE to download Full Transcript (pdf format)>
Please read the full transcript and draw your own conclusions. I only ask that we remain respectful to our leaders in our comments on this issue. We can disagree with our elected officials (public servants) and question their views because that is our right in the democratic government. But we donʻt have to compromise our Chuukese cultural value of respect. Calling officials by disrespectful names or threatening their lives are simply not in our values and add nothing to the discussion.
On a day of ThanksGIVING, I struggled to give thanks. Instead, I wrote, “Happy ThanksSHARING everyone from the Raatior `ohana.” As an educator, I can always SHARE knowledge as a way to help people know and make their own conclusions. Hopefully you have more to give than I did. I love Maya Angelouʻs lesson: “When you learn, teach. When you get, give.”
