I’m Not Getting a Watch
I am three minutes away from getting an Apple watch, and I blame the pandemic. Before the world fell apart, I would have described myself as a saver, not a spender. And that has mostly remained true with few exceptions here and there.
But lately, I have been coveting an Apple Watch with zero clue what I could do with an Apple Watch. I know it will count my steps. I’m not sure if it’s more or less accurate than leaving my phone in my pocket. I’ve been told that I can receive and send texts, though I have a hard enough time seeing them on my phone with that small type. I’m not sure how it will be more convenient to have it on my wrist. And beyond that, I have zero clue what an Apple watch will do that my phone can’t. Please remember that I’m not leaving the house right now. See, zero use for this watch.
And yet, it has become a family joke. I tell them that we’re all going to get Apple Watches and talk to each other through our wrists.
The Guardian recently had a piece on emotional spending. That is what this is: emotional spending. Buying an Apple Watch not because I have any use for an Apple Watch but because I want something new. Anything new.
Emotional spending isn’t a problem because I am also distrustful of online shopping (or purchasing anything I haven’t gotten to try on or touch) and spend more time thinking rather than doing. But the article hit close to home for me because I understand craving newness whether it was a complete revamp of my library holds list last weekend or a new pasta sauce or a watch that promises to solve all of my problems.
Except for… you know… that big pandemic one.
I’m not getting a watch.
6 comments
We’re talking about a new car. Not because we actually need one, but because the ones we have are annoying. Sigh…we won’t be getting one, I don’t think.
(I told my husband to get what he would enjoy driving. He said he’s buying a used Corvette, then. I said “no, you would enjoy owning that, but the first time you scraped the front end on the driveway would be the last time you drove it.”)
Thank goodness, those watches creep me out. There’s something unsettling about having your wrist tell you things and remind you of things and let you know that your phone is talking to you… It’s a step closer to the phone becoming part of your body, inescapable. I do get the emotional spending though. I’ve been getting things for the house:a new quilt, a small bookcase, a small swivel chair for an “empty” spot. It’s a weird sort of nesting, maybe to make things look different since we’ve been home for so long?
I have also been craving newness, but have fortunately been able to keep it to things like you say, library books, groceries… and in my case, a few fancy pens from jetpens.com and snacks from nuts.com.
Still, we’ve been spending less on average so I think it’s ok to have novel little luxuries.
Many years ago, in maybe my first or second year working, I remember buying some shoes. I probably needed shoes, but I specifically bought them because I needed something to make me feel better. I wore them to work, but the pleasure was fleeting. A mentor told me that she saved a lot of money when she was happy. I managed to get out of the section where I was working, and discovered she was right!
Mind you, sometimes we just want things because we want them. And goodness knows you deserve a treat after the last year. If not a watch, as the year anniversary of lockdowns approaches, you deserve something!
It’s not a bad thing to want something just because it sounds fun. And I totally get the back and forth over getting it.
I have an Apple Watch. It came off in quarantine and went back on during the summer when I was more active then came back off again in the fall. Now I wonder if I need it at all. Yes, it’s a fun gadget, it sends texts you can yell at someone through your wrist, it tracks calories and steps and whatever. But what I realized is that it was just distracting me. I’m not sure it’ll ever go back on my wrist.
My mom surprised me with an Apple Watch as a holiday gift, and I love it. Love all the health tracking features—so convenient—and it’s encouraging me to get out and walk more so that I don’t sit at my desk for 10 hours straight. Mine has a heart monitor, so Way more data than my phone.