Stuff I don’t get: Why, exactly, do I continue to wear a watch?
Seriously? One’s always there. I have several. But I also always have a cell phone to keep me abreast of the time. My office has a clock and a computer to let me know the time. I’m always in view of a clock at my house. My car has one. Any place I go has one.
So, why do I wear one?
April 26th, 2007 at 12:46 am
Habit. I’ve asked myself the same question, and when I’ve gone without, I keep staring down at my wrist habitually, and it drives me back to wearing one.
April 26th, 2007 at 7:31 am
mine ran out of battery, oh, must be a couple months ago now. the various computers i’m always around are all connected to network time servers that keep better time than the watch would. i still haven’t replaced that battery.
April 26th, 2007 at 8:41 am
I hate wrist watches. Can’t stand to have one on my wrist, so I wear a pocket watch. Yeah, people laugh and poke fun but I just like pocket watches. Plus sometimes you have to go places where you need to turn your cell phone off and won’t know the time (ie: airplanes, etc.).
April 26th, 2007 at 9:03 am
Ravenwood, I’m sure you recall that I am a fan of the pocket watch and thought it was very cool that you had one.
I don’t wear a watch anymore and rely on my cell phone. However, I also feel like I’m asking Sebastian what time it is an awful lot when I don’t have my phone on me. So I’m happy he continues to wear the watch. ๐
April 26th, 2007 at 9:29 am
I gave up my watch 10 years ago when I had pagers on my belt 24×7.
The funny thing was when I was the best man for a friends wedding. During our running around on the Friday before I had to grab a cheap timex to make sure I’d have him at the wedding on time since I wasn’t going to be wearing my pager that day.
April 26th, 2007 at 9:59 am
Because cell phones die at inopportune times (like camping trips) and with a watch you can find north.
April 26th, 2007 at 10:06 am
Why? So you don’t look foolish glancing at your bare wrist.
Douglas Adams fans will be familiar with:
“Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.
Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-two million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.”
and:
“There are of course many problems connected with life, of which some of the most popular are Why are people born? Why do they die? Why do they want to spend so much of the intervening time wearing digital watches?”
April 26th, 2007 at 10:06 am
A cousin of mine inherited his father’s pocket-watch, and I recall a dinner conversation, once, over the relative merits of wristwatches versus pocket watches. Robert was a high-level executive in a large American corporation: he pointed out that while he would have preferred to always use his father’s pocket-watch for sentimental reasons, it was impossible for him to handle it discreetly during meetings, in managing the limited and high-demand time of his day. He could glance furtively at the wristwatch and get his bearings in ways that he never could with a pocket-watch.
I’ve never forgotten that, and have put the principle to good use, myself.
Generally: a wristwatch is simply convenient in ways that no other timepiece can match.
April 26th, 2007 at 10:57 am
It’s self-reliance, and impatience. I don’t want to dig around for my cell phone. Besides, it stays off as much as possible. Having clocks around that don’t display the same time drives me nuts, especially if I can’t correct them, so I just stick to my wristwatch.
April 26th, 2007 at 11:07 am
I have four watches. I haven’t worn one in ten years. I haven’t worn a tie in fifteen years. Back when I did wear a tie a business associate did not wear a watch. I thought he was eccentric.
April 26th, 2007 at 11:51 am
I haven’t worn a watch in over 35 years. I hate the feeling of anything around my wrist, my neck, or my fingers. I guess the only “bling” you’ll find me wearing is my belt and holster.
April 26th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
I can’t wear wristwatches or other jewelry against my skin. I have some kind of allergic reaction; skin gets greens and crusty. I’ve worn pocket watches for many years now. I just like ’em and they way the chain looks against my clothes.
April 26th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
You wear a Rolex, don’t you, Unc? ๐
April 26th, 2007 at 4:52 pm
I have one. but i don’t wear it often.
April 26th, 2007 at 11:00 pm
I stopped wearing watches many, many years ago, but, oddly, I always can correctly guess the time within 10 minutes or so.
April 27th, 2007 at 1:13 am
Watches are not network-dependent. And you can set them to actual local mean solar time instead of zone or (spit!) daylight “saving” time.