For those of you who read the blog regularly, you will no-doubt be familiar with the "a few minutes with" interviews. I always ask - "what was your first watch? Was it a gift? Is there a story behind it?
And a few of my interviewees have asked the same question of me. Well, here it is:
A bit of background to the story - a long time ago in the middle-western part of these United States, a small boy had difficulty telling time. This really stumped his parents because he read at a "higher than grade level" level, but two important skills eluded him - remembering his phone number, and telling the time.
So you can well imagine, growing up in the seventies, in the most prosperous country (at the time) beneficiary of all sorts of advantages, yet as a five-year old I could not remember my phone number. This was all the more galling in that as a kindergarten project, where we made construction paper telephones. The final piece of the puzzle was to write our phone number on the "rotary" dial. Once we had successfully done this, we could take the paper phone home with us. Now of course, the three neighbor kids who were in the same kindergarten class as me - well, their phones were already proudly displayed on the coffee tables of their families. Mine languished in the class room, calling out to me not unlike Jay Gatsby's light. I tried to explain to my teacher that I never called my house as I was not allowed to use the phone - logic in Oberlin, Ohio was the domain of the college, not Kindergarten!
On the final day of class before the summer, I had gotten up early, my mom had quizzed me - I was ready! I proudly strode into the class room saying that I was ready to complete my phone! My teacher told me that it was now too late, there would be no time today. Sorry.
I told my parents my sad tale, and began a month-long habit of telling everyone I met what my phone number was. Thank goodness this was small town Ohio nearly 40 years ago. I was not abducted, and our home was not broken into.
As a reward, my parents bought me this Snoopy and Woodstock watch, understanding that I was sort of a "hands-on" type of kid. Theory wasn't going to help my ability to tell time, I needed an actual time keeper.
So the answer is - my first watch was a Timex Snoopy watch. Wendy and I were looking for something for the house in an antique store this past Saturday, and stumbled upon a rather beat-up version of this. I recognized my long lost friend, came home, got on Ebay, and yesterday afternoon it arrived! And if you're ready for something really funny? The Ebay seller was from Ohio!
Sadly it is most likely out of warranty now! And for you purists out there, fear not - it is a hand-winding watch!
Let's see if I can spark a trend towards "undersized" watches!
Enjoy your day!
And a few of my interviewees have asked the same question of me. Well, here it is:
So you can well imagine, growing up in the seventies, in the most prosperous country (at the time) beneficiary of all sorts of advantages, yet as a five-year old I could not remember my phone number. This was all the more galling in that as a kindergarten project, where we made construction paper telephones. The final piece of the puzzle was to write our phone number on the "rotary" dial. Once we had successfully done this, we could take the paper phone home with us. Now of course, the three neighbor kids who were in the same kindergarten class as me - well, their phones were already proudly displayed on the coffee tables of their families. Mine languished in the class room, calling out to me not unlike Jay Gatsby's light. I tried to explain to my teacher that I never called my house as I was not allowed to use the phone - logic in Oberlin, Ohio was the domain of the college, not Kindergarten!
On the final day of class before the summer, I had gotten up early, my mom had quizzed me - I was ready! I proudly strode into the class room saying that I was ready to complete my phone! My teacher told me that it was now too late, there would be no time today. Sorry.
I told my parents my sad tale, and began a month-long habit of telling everyone I met what my phone number was. Thank goodness this was small town Ohio nearly 40 years ago. I was not abducted, and our home was not broken into.
As a reward, my parents bought me this Snoopy and Woodstock watch, understanding that I was sort of a "hands-on" type of kid. Theory wasn't going to help my ability to tell time, I needed an actual time keeper.
Let's see if I can spark a trend towards "undersized" watches!
Enjoy your day!
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