The Watch and Me

Sep00Michael G Casey email michaelgcasey@hotmail.com 

                    The Watch and Me ©

                                 By

                           Michael  Casey
        
  I suppose my love affair with the watch started when I was just a child
 
now  30  years on the passion is still there .  I remember lifting  up  my
 
dad's shirt sleeve to look at the watch on his wrist , watching the second
 
hand  sweep  around  and  asking what time was it  ,  not  that  I  really
 
understood the concept of time ,  I knew midnight was always dark  ,  that
 
was  about  it really .  Oh apart from some special time  called  "opening

time"  and "closing time" ,  our lodgers would pay their rent at the back
 
door before rushing off to the pub , it was a mystery to me .

      A cousin of ours was to be ordained a priest in Dublin ,  so dad and
 
2  of my brothers went off to Dublin for the ceremony .  I  remember  Tony
 
coming  back with a watch on his wrist ,  it had a black strap and  had  a
 
small face ,  then at the bottom was seperate dial with a second hand  on
 
it ,  we all thought it was very posh . So being children we now used this
 
dial  to see how long we could hold our breath ,  we'd take a deep  breath
 
and  pump  up  our cheeks then Tony waved his hands  and  we'd  start  our
 
endurance test .  Only stopping when we fell over our faces brilliant red
 
and  our eyes bulging .  I remember Tony seemed to win this game always  ,
 
not  because he cheated but because he loved under water swimming  so  had
 
mastered holding his breath .  Then we had a contest to run down the  yard
 
past  the hedge to the bottom of the garden and touch the  fence  and
 
come back and touch the wall of the house , we were all young and mad then
 
but such simple fun was all because we had a watch with a second hand .

      Jim was our lodger for 20years , when he'd been with us for 11 years
 
I badgered him for a present , for a watch . if I passed the 11 plus exam.

Finally he gave in and gave me his own 2nd best watch ,  in fact I got  it
 
before I even sat the exam .  So the watch Jim gave me was my first  watch
 
ever  .  The trouble with leather watch straps is that they dig into  your
 
flesh  ,  so  you  loosen the strap but then the  watch  dangles  ,  so  I
 
compromised by using stretch straps ,  then you can slide a stretch  strap
 
all the way up your arm , until it feels comfortable . I also always liked
 
mechanical watches , it was a night time rictual , taking my watch off and
 
winding  it up ,  setting the time against the chimes of Big Ben  on  the
 
radio . So you can see just how important a watch is to me . There is just
 
one thing I've forgotten to mention ,  watches always break .  Well when I
 
wear them anyway . For the past 20 years as a computer operator I'm always
 
carrying  something and banging my watch on doors or whatever  .  So  they
 
break ,  leaving my watch in the bathroom while I take a bath was  another
 
of my bad habits .  Watches steam up on me ,  or the winder gets rusty and
 
breaks  off ,  or I break the glass ,  or the glass falls out .  Once  the
 
glass fell out , so I glued it back again , only to make a mess of the job
 
and  glue the hands of the watch together as well .  Finally I decided  to
 
get a  quartz watch , they were accurate , only my sweaty wrist steamed up
 
the  face constantly ,  so I couldn't read the time .  On average a  watch
 
lasts me 1 year ,  my sister Mary always laughs every time I show her  my
 
latest new watch .  A simple Lorex watch was the best one I ever had , its
 
lasted  5 years .  However I must confess that it has only lasted me  that
 
long because when dad was in hospital after mum had died and he had nearly
 
died too he wanted a watch so he could pass the time ,  by looking at  the
 
watch ,  so he'd know when his next meal was ,  the fact that there was  a
 
clock on the wall not 2 yards away did not matter .  Of course I took  the
 
watch off my wrist and gave it to him . he was my dad and I loved him , so
 
if a watch would please him ,  he could have mine . That was 4 years ago ,
 
dad is called the miracle man ,  by the doctors ,  he beat death  ,  dad's
 
time  was  up and the grim reaper made an appearance twice ,  but  dad  is
 
still  alive and kicking ,  my watch ticking on his wrist .  Or so it  was
 
until last month .  Jie Jie my Chinese wife bought me a fancy watch for my
 
Birthday so I gave dad my watch , a fancy Esprit model , amd I retired the
 
old one ,  but I have kept it as a souvenir , we all thought dad would die
 
in  weeks  ,  but his heart is still ticking as strong and reliable  as  a
 
Rolex watch .  I think when we all die ,  if we are not worthy of Paradise
 
immediately  God will issue us with a Rolex and we have to wear it  for  a
 
billion  years  ,  until we are worthy of Paradise .  God's watch  is  the
 
turning  tides  ,  the  movememnt of the stars  accross  the  heavens  and
 
rumbling super vovas ,  after all didn't  time begin with creation . It is
 
us stupid mankind who try to limit it to a dial on a watch .