I took off my watch yesterday

Yesterday, when I took off my watch, I discovered that I had a wide white ring that had formed over the years. Yes, sad to admit, but I actually mean years. Not only did I have this wide white ring, but this ring was indented. I notice that I see a similar but smaller indent on the ring finger of my left hand when I take off my wedding ring to have it cleaned. I was shocked. Do I really wear my watch as much as I wear my wedding ring? The horrible, but true answer is obvious. I rarely if ever take off my watch. I do have some excuse for this. I grew up in a wonderful family who believed that if you were late for something, you were telling people that you and your time were far more important then the other person's time. So, over the years, I have developed the habit of thinking and feeling that I am late if I arrive "anywhere" five minutes early. This is by no means a bad thing....at least I don't think so....though I'm sure my children and husband would tell you a different story. So, early in my life, I started wearing a watch. Lots of people do wear watches. I wear my watch to bed. I wear my watch in the bathtub. I wear my watch on vacation. I always wear my watch. My husband once asked me why I wore my watch to bed. This was very early in our marriage. My answer to him was that I wanted to know what time it was, of course. What?! I wear glasses or contacts. I'm am legally blind without glasses or contacts. When I wake up in the middle of the night....in the dark...I can't see well enough to read the bedside clock. So....I have to wear my watch so I can press it's face close enough to mine so I can see how many hours I've already slept and how soon I have to wake up so I won't be startled by the clock radio. Yes. I am one of those individuals who hates being startled awake. I wake up exactly five minutes before the radio goes off. I know this because...I check my watch. See? It makes sense to me. I wear my watch in the bathtub because I don't want to spend too much time in there and draw criticism from other members of my family. When I was growing up, we only had the one bathtub and we had to share. Believe me, you received more then a little criticism from soaking in the tub for any length of time. So...I wear my watch....water-resistant up to 100 meters. OK. So I should take off my watch during vacations. I admit it. But then I spend the entire vacation looking at my wrist. Someone always is asking me what time it is and someone is always telling me to meet them somewhere at a specific time. On the long drive to and from my vacations, I want to know how long it takes me to get from point A to point B. I want to know if I have the right to be hungry for lunch because my watch tells me that it's 12 PM or if it's only been an hour since breakfast. I want to know if I have to hurry in the morning because checkout at the hotel is 11 AM or they stop serving the free breakfast at 9 AM. So, I wear my watch. I never take it off. I now have what looks like a permanent ring around my wrist. This is sad. This is really sad. I took off my watch yesterday...and I still haven't put it back on. It looks like I'm wearing a watch...but I'm not. Maybe the ring will fade.