On My Own (continued)

I have always thought that I would fare pretty well living on my own. Well, there are a lot of things you don’t know about yourself until put to the test! Not that I want to sell myself short; much of life is a question of getting into and out of habits, isn’t it? And I suppose both become more difficult as one gets older.

If ever one were labouring under the illusion that, deep down, we were all the same, the arrival today of a special supplement on (expensive) watches with the IHT came as a necessary corrective. What ever induces people to spend vast sums on something which, if telling the time is what turns you on, you could just as well get at the local supermarket for next to nothing? The answer is, of course, that the Rolexes of this world are in reality status symbols and/or fashion statements like Gucci shoes, Google T-shirts or MacDonald’s caps. Yes, all right. But I personally have never in my life checked to see if somebody else is wearing a watch, let alone what kind of watch it is. Anne says, with a certain edge to her voice, that I am in a minority and that in fact most people DO pay attention to what others are wearing. I’m sure she’s right. I mean that. I’m sure she’s right and the state of mind that renders me impervious to so much of what is going on around me is nothing to be proud of.

In the mean time, perhaps advertisers could save a bit of money by combining clothes with watches, so that when the supermodels sway down the catwalk, the cameras could zoom in on their watches at the same time? “Oh my God! He’s wearing a TAG Heuer!”