I got a new watch last month. It’s a digital wonder this watch. It holds time information for three different time zones. It has three alarms, a stopwatch, a countdown timer and an occasion reminder. I use some of these features everyday. I wake up to the beeping alarm. I time my students in class during their daily timed drills in math. I time myself when I go for runs. And, of course, I keep myself on schedule all day with the normal time mode. It’s a very useful device.

Today, my watch suddenly became unresponsive. The time ticks on and remains correct but none of the buttons work anymore. I tried to switch to the countdown timer in math class today and pushed the mode button as usual – nothing happened. I pushed the buttons to see the different times zones – nothing. I tried to reset the time – nothing. I tried to use the light – nothing. None of the buttons will produce any response. After only one month of use, I am a little pissed off about this.

It’s amazing how much of a tool this small device on my wrist has become. I don’t know what I would do without a watch. I think I’d be lost. I don’t even think about it until there is a problem. Last month, I finally caved in and bought a new watch after about a month of it resetting on me almost daily. These things are not meant to last, it seems. That’s fine with me. I got ten years out of that old one, which was the same type of watch I replaced it with, although it didn’t have as many features. I don’t mind buying a watch every ten years. I can live with that. But this watch is only a month old and it is technically still working, it is just unresponsive.

Come to think of it, my class was unresponsive today too. Could this be a coincidence? (Writers don’t believe in coincidence.) Maybe if they have a better day tomorrow and are more receptive, maybe my watch will be too. Maybe there is some strange link between my class and my watch. Then again, maybe not. I guess we will just have to watch and see what happens.