Tuesday, August 17, 2010

fob & socket

An AP article this morning about the incoming class of college freshman says many of them have never worn a wristwatch. In fact it’s a pretty crappy article that never explains this. I don’t suppose they’re all pretentious pocket-watch types, but rather rely on the clock in their cell phones. Or is there some other new-fangled way to tell time that I’ve missed? Do they maybe wear those neato “ring watches?”

As for me, if there were an item of apparel I would choose to marry, it would be my watch. I’m never without it. It’s heartbreakingly handsome. I wear it to bed. It’s mechanical, and must be faithfully wound. I love that. I treated myself to it just before my son was born. If I lost it, or broke it (lord forbid), I would replace it with the very same model.

This is something I’ve never quite gotten about “the digital age.” Why would you choose to fumble around for your ugly cell phone to check the time rather than simply swivel your wrist facewards and find out instantly? Why do people keep their address books on their computers? My husband, who preceded the beloved wristwatch, has to turn on his laptop, locate the file and do a CTRL-F search to find a phone number. I have an address book in my purse, and a spinning rolodex next to the phone, which plugs into the wall. Where I can find it.

5 comments:

Jeff said...

Ever notice that nearly everyone seems to walk around with the phone in their hands? Always looking down with their thumb ready on the trackwheel? When they sit down at a meal, it's on the table next to the soup spoon? When they're in the car, it's in the cup holder? Have to face it - this is where time, addresses, phone numbers, relationships,entertainment,and the very fabric of society now resides. Lose your phone, and Rome crumbles.

The whole dang world is turning into one huge app ...

Humbug.

- Jeff

Sherry O'Keefe said...

i have a push mower you might be interested in....

i don't wear a watch anymore because my favorite (wind it up watch) broke. then i learned to have some sense of time without referring to any device. my life is such that i rarely need to be on time, so it makes it easier to not be checking a watch.

addresses: all kept in one book stored in my nightstand. i'm old enough now the book is a historical documen-- how many times friends moved, divorced, how many are no longer here. i have one brother who moves quite a bit and sometimes he calls and asks me "sherry, before i lived in decatur, where did i live?"

Kathleen said...

You have the model with actual numbers, right?! I have a watch now with 4 of the actual numbers. Alas, the clasp is in trouble, and I should really remove a link, so it sits on the windowsill instead of my wrist for now, and I have to rely on the annoying cell phone if I am somewhere without a clock handy. But I do have an actual address book.

Sandy Longhorn said...

Love this post!

Sadly, I had to give up my wristwatch b/c I tended to stress out by minute-watching and worrying about what work was getting done and what work wasn't. So, I tend to not check my phone either. I rely on clocks in my offices and home and the readout on my computer screen. Luckily, I'm a prompt person. Still, I wish I had a watch like yours.

SarahJane said...

I actually need a push mower. It's forbidden to mow your law in Germany on Sunday because of the noise, and according to my biological clock, Sunday is lawn-mowing day.

Sherry, my mother had an address book like that. She probably still does. Also I find it fascinating. Hang on to it.

As to my watch, my jealous husband has even tried stealing it from me, and dared wearing it for a few days. I had to call off the menage a trois, being a possessive lover myself.

Jeff, my daughter's cell phone also comes to the dinner table. Last night it vibrated with an SMS that sent my daughter squirming. We will no longer be setting a place for the cell phone.

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