The "Only Time Will Tell" Story

It was an ordinary day. Checking my phone to see what time it was. Now that is usually a pretty easy job being that I keep my phone in my left front pants pocket, but if I forget to take it out of my pocket before I put my seat belt on it, it creates somewhat of a hassle getting it out of my pocket without hitting one of the buttons and having it make all kinds of funny noises. I stopped wearing a wristwatch about four months ago because I had lost some weight with the various diseases I have accumulated and my wrist seems to be smaller than it used to be. When I tried to check the time on my wrist, my watch was always upside down and pointed the wrong way. So I put it on my dresser and that's were it remains until I gain the weight back. My watch was a pretty neat watch. My wife got it for me a few years ago for Christmas. A Citizen Eco-Drive, whatever that means. Silver with a gray dial and a slot that gave me the day and date. Anyway, quite a few people stopped wearing wristwatches since they can check the time on their phone which is usually a pocket or purse away. For years experts predicted the demise of the wristwatch which was said to have been invented in Naples in the early 19th century when Swiss watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet made a wristwatch for the queen. Some said they would go the way of the vinyl record, cassette cartridge, even the Sony Walkman. So, I thought I would be fashionable and leave the watch on the dresser. Heck, a week of so ago Carol and I had lunch with our two sons, daughter-in-law and grandson and not a single one of them had a wristwatch on their arm. Pull out the phone if you need the time. But then I was reading in the paper that wristwatches are experiencing a renaissance. Big bulky ones! Retro style ones. And, watch companies seem to be coming out with real bright colors and high tech varieties. Even middle and high school kids are getting in on the purchase of wristwatches. Fossil, a popular brand for teens, said their sales had jumped 31% in one day a month ago after reporting a 12% jump in the last fiscal quarter. Seems that many consumers are slowly climbing out of the recession and rather than get an entire new wardrobe, they jazz up themselves with some new accessories. Matter-of-fact, some companies are planning their products and advertising to draw in the teen buyer. Stores are putting their watch displays close to the front door. I noticed more and more people stopped wearing watches about five or so years ago. None of the kids in the high school where I do the school printing had watches on their wrists, but they all had cellphones. Now I guess I will start to see more and more watches. Kids probably will think it is something new and will be the first to buy one and impress their peers. For me, I probably will put my watch back on when my wrist grows bigger. My guess is that by that time I'll need to replace the battery in it. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.