If You Want To Feel Old...Ask Gen Z If They've Ever Seen A Wind-Up Watch

 I have a side gig where I work with people of all ages. Part of my job is to speak to visitors and guests, make conversation, find out about them. Sometimes, you discover some surprising things.

Like finding out how old you are.

Case in point...I was chatting with some high school students. Part of my job is to wear a nice three-piece suit. It's a pain in the hot weeks of September, but great when things get cold in October. The teenagers commented on how dapper I looked. I then pulled out my pocket watch to see how much time was left until the show (where I work...) started.

"Wow--you even have a cool watch," one of the youngsters said.

"Thanks," I said. "It's even a wind-up watch."

Crickets.

They looked at me as if I had lobsters crawling out of my ears (classic film quote reference...). 

"What?"

"You know, a watch that doesn't have a battery."

More crickets.

The next couple of minutes I explained that before battery-powered watches were invented, watches were wound up in order to keep running and they even came in wrist watches. I didn't go into detail that this is how humanity kept time for centuries.

I know as I get older, all the things from my youth are turning into antiques. I also understand that many kids have no reason to own a watch in the first place. I've seen videos where teenagers try to figure out  rotary phones, Sony Walkmans, even being surprised when they see a car without an automatic transmission, but not having them know about or understand a wind-up watch...

That made me feel really old.