Clockwork

While I'm a person that comes on time, I don't carry a watch. Call it a quirk but I don't like having a watch. When there was a fad of wearing Swatches, my wrists were devoid of anything mechanical. Even when my parents were offering to buy me a Rolex, I'd refuse on sole principle. It's nice to see people wearing watches. As long as I'm not one of them.

Ever since I was a kid, I didn't like wearing watches. I don't know why. The only watch I remember having was the one that could say the time when you pressed a button. I wore it for about a year before it broke. After that, watches were a no-no.

At first, my dad tried to get me a leather watch. Of course my wrists became itchy after wearing them for an hour. Also, I really didn't like telling time through Roman numerals. I prefer the digital ones but to me, saving up money for a watch was stupid. Digital was nice but I didn't want to spend money for it. After all, the most it did was tell you the time. Did I really want to spend thousands of pesos on just a watch?

I remember one of my classmates having one of those electronic watches that could act as a calculator and store people's phone number. I think it's the predecessor to the mobile phone's short message service as you had to type using numbers as well. I actually thought it was cool. When I asked how much it cost, I quickly forgot about it.

My brother also offered me one of his metal watches. Strangely, my wrists have the same reaction to metal as they do to leather. People rarely saw me with any jewelry on my wrists, or on any part of my body for that matter.

So now you might be wondering, how does a person who doesn't carry a watch tell the time? For one, I developed the skill of looking over people's watches without being noticed. And since most of the people involved were my classmates, I managed to tell the time differences between their watch and the school's. I could predict under a minute when the school bell would ring.

I also developed an internal clock. I could usually predict without looking at a watch how long I've spend doing a particular chore or how long a trip took. I'd even calculate how long it'll take me to get from one place to another so I was never late for meetings and appointments. Most of the time.

When I'm at home though, it's a different matter. Several watches abound here. In every room I enter, there's at least one watch which I could infer. Of course they all tell the time differently so I had to learn the time differences between them. I also depend on the alarm clock to wake me up each morning.

Of course now that I own a cellular phone, I don't need a watch. I just look at my phone to see what time it is. I even use it to wake me up in the mornings or to time myself. Some people call me an idiot for carrying such a large device just to tell the time. I merely shrug. It's better than wearing an expensive watch that makes you a target for all the snatchers roaming the streets.

Incidentally, I've never been robbed. Perhaps it's because of my modesty. Or maybe because I don't carry jewelry, much less a watch.