My watch is duct-taped, rubber-banded and hot-glued, but parting with it is not an option.
This summer, I worked on a cornfield. The hours could be long some days, and every day we were guaranteed to get sweaty and grimy in unimaginable ways.
After a few days of work, I was christened the “keeper of the time,” meaning that whenever someone needed to know how much longer it would be until our lunch break or the end of the work day, I would be in charge of yelling out the time.
It was a simple task, until the unthinkable happened: My watch battery died. After three years, it had ticked its final tock.
No one else in the field wore a watch, and most people didn’t carry their phones into the field for fear they would not be able to withstand the environment. Without my watch, we would have no idea if lunch was 30 minutes or two hours away.
One could think this is a non-issue, and it truly was just uncomfortable, but that was the moment I realized how important wearing my watch had become.
Since that pivotal moment in my life, I can’t help but to spot situations that could have been easily resolved by wearing a watch.
For starters, watches aren’t going to run low on battery every day, as a phone would. How many times has your phone’s battery drained at the most inopportune moment?
Even when your phone can hold its charge in moments of dire importance, your phone doesn’t understand the importance of seconds.
In those times of panic when you have exactly 28 seconds to get to class, you’re going to want to be able to pace yourself appropriately. A phone doesn’t usually do that. Your screen could read 11:59 and trick you into believing you have an entire minute to walk down a hall when really you have four seconds to get there.
My roommate told me just the other day that her phone died as she walked to her gym class. She was ultimately late because she didn’t know the time. This all could have been avoided had she been wearing a watch.
Nothing says, “I’ve been socialized to think this isn’t rude,” like checking your phone during work, church, class, fancy dinners or any other event that asks for your full attention. Though you may not be texting or scrolling through your Twitter, pulling out your phone or even having it resting on your lap all the time, checking the time may paint a poor portrait of your manners. There is certain discretion in using a watch that a phone just can’t provide.
Perhaps an obvious point, yet a valid one in reviving the watch-wearing spirit, is that watches are hands-free. When you’re in line at the grocery store struggling to carry your less-than-20-items and want to know how much time you have before Game of Thrones starts, you don’t really have the option of rummaging through your purse or back pocket for your phone. If you’re wearing a watch, however, a quick flick of your wrist and you’ll be able to calculate just how much you’ll have to speed to get home in time.
As a final argument: Watches can be stylish in a way a phone cannot. When was the last time you admired the style of someone’s phone? Seeing as a large number of us have popular and common cellphone designs, I’m going to guess never. Watches can be a simple way to add some personality to your wardrobe without having to wake up 30 minutes earlier to primp.
Watches are not yet a thing of the past, and if they are on the path to becoming obsolete, it is our duty not to let watch-wearing become something we remember only as fond memories.
The utility and style of a watch just cannot be matched.
