Published March 2, 2011 | 
“Time is an illusion. Lunch time doubly so”, so begins a classic line from the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Not that, that has much to do with this article, but you have to get the classics in when you can.
I’d worn a wristwatch for pretty much my whole life, barring say my first 4 or 5 years. I saw the introduction of digital watches, back in the 70s. I can remember my brother getting his first digital watch, an amazing piece of technology. Some things nowadays we take for granted, like the ability to look at your watch and see the time. Back in those days, digital watches were a huge drain on the battery, as they were LED, as opposed to the now more common LCD. To extend the life of the battery, the watch only showed the time, when you pressed the button. Now you didn’t just have to press the button, you had to hold it in. Looking back, this is almost laughable, but at the time, it was an amazing feat of engineering.
Although I had a brief dalliance with digital watches in the 80s, I always found my self coming back to the friendly face of an analog watch. This culminated in my Mum and Dad buying me a Seiko automatic watch. Ah the joys of a watch that you put on your wrist and forget. Waterproof, shockproof and self winding. I’d worn this watch for nearly 20 years, when finally the strap broke. Now it’s only a small pin that needs replacing, but it’s has sat in Sherri’s handbag for well over 2 years and in that time I have been watchless.
After having been so used to wearing a watch, the first couple of weeks were pretty odd. I used to get a sense of panic, as I would check my wrist for the time and upon remember I didn’t have a watch, would have to frantically hunt down the time, from another source. It was then that I became aware of my unhealthy obsession with the time. It’s incredible to realise just how much you look at the time, even when you have no real need. As I became less and less reliant on a watch, I began to feel myself becoming more relaxed. This became all the more apparent when I used to pick up the kids in the morning from school and play in the park. I had no pressing need to get back home, but I found myself constantly looking at my watch, counting down the minutes to a non defined lunch time. Without a watch I was much more relaxed and had more fun with the kids.
I know soon or later I have to get my watch fixed. It’s too nice to spend it’s life in a handbag, but now at least I will be more aware of the dangers of wearing a wristwatch and will endeavor to remain less driven by it.
