Finally, a watch I might actually wear

I have never worn a watch. First of all, I can't get used to the feeling of something strapped around my wrist all the time, and secondly, I'm pretty much surrounded by time-keeping electronics where ever I happen to be: my car, my computer, my phone.

In general terms, I've never had that much need to be so aware of the time at any given moment. I break my day up into basic segments: Wake up. At work before lunch. At work after lunch. At home in the evening. Sleep time. Anything beyond that is pretty much overkill.

But there was one 30 day period where the United States Army made me wear a watch. The evening I showed up to report for Sergeant's school (PLDC: Personal Leadership Development Course, hosted at gloriously rainy Fort Benning, Georgia) your random Sergeant Major Stereotype stopped me and asked if I had the time.

Me: - [squinting at where I thought the sun might be behind the clouds] - I think it's around 6:30, Sergeant Major, but I don't wear a watch, so I'm not 100% sure on that.

As it turns out, that particular Sergeant Major Stereotype ran that particular Sergeant school. He had never met a soldier without a watch before, and found it truly remarkable. (It crossed my mind at that point to wonder what happened to his watch that he needed to ask me what time it was. As he was remarking at some length over how novel he found my watch-avoidance quite loudly, and to a number of senior NCOs standing nearby under a handy canopy, all of whom were busy agreeing with him, I thought it best not to ask). Then, the Sergeant Major suggested that since I was going to be attending his school for the next few weeks, I might find it a good idea to scoot on over to the local PX and invest in a timepiece, just in case he ever needed to ask me the time again. I nodded. It's difficult to speak when you're doing pushups in the rain.

So later that evening, I picked up whatever was olive drab and cheap at the post exchange that evening, and for the next thirty days, I knew exactly what time it was. I was asked, often, by all of the instructors. Apparently by a remarkable coincidence all of their own watches had been broken, and they weren't sure they could trust the clocks on the walls of the school, so I was asked to verify the time sometimes four or five times a day.

But at the end of that school, I left my watch at Ft Benning, and went back to my general categorization, feeling, if anything, less inclined than before to need to know the exact time of day.

Now if only they had had this watch available. A watch that tells time like I tell time: "It's a bit shy of 2 o'clock" or "It's pushing 1:45". That's freaking genius. I don't think it's enough for me to run out and get one at this point, but it's nice to know it's an option, if I ever do feel the need.