I have always been a fan of free watches. All of my watches I have ever owned have been given to me or I have found other ways of making them free. My first watch was a cheap McDonalds Olympic watch I found while eating. When I worked at Wal-Mart, there was a lost and found bin which I raided with a friend, coming off with flash memory cards, around twenty dollars, and of course a slightly worn Benrus face watch.
Also working at Wal-Mart, I was actually planning on buying my first piece of male wrist jewelry when I realized that the girl who was working at the jewelry counter was looking at me like she wanted to rip my clothes off. Deciding I would rather depart with an unpaid for watch than a mild case of STDs, I left with my current timepiece.
In my freshman year Chemistry lab, one experiment involved measuring the heat generated from a reaction at regular time intervals. I rigged my watch to hang from the sink counter above the thermometer, and finished the experiment fairly quickly, due to the lackluster results I had gleaned.
The next day I was looking for my watch in my dorm room when I remembered the experiment. I stopped by at the lab between classes and looked for the TA working there at the time. The chemistry TA’s come in two flavors, Chinese and Russian. The Russians consisted of several women and a single guy, a big beast of a muscle man named Victor. It seems to me that being alone with those Russian ladies has affected Victor’s mental outlook, as he is always jovial and flirts with every female, who seem to enjoy his poor English. Victor is the kind of guy who wears a Speedo to a casual swimming day to “impress the ladies”.
Victor was in charge of the lab when I walked in and started looking for my watch. I asked him if he had seen it, and as I mentioned it I saw his hand go into his pocket and clutch something. He asked for me to describe it, which I did, and then he pulled it from his pocket.
“I must admit, I wanted this watch for my own so I could give it as a present to Professor Dunbar” (in charge of the chem. lab). “Russians know and respect their watches. We know their true value! You have been rough to this watch, yes?”
I admitted that I had dropped it several times, but I felt the need to tell him how I had gotten it free from the girl at Wal-Mart.
“Ahh! Given as gift from young lady? This watch is priceless! Take this watch, and remember, Russians know watches!”
Not really knowing what to say, I put my watch back on and said thanks before leaving to make my class. Victor helped me in any need I had after that, even during the final experiment which was supposed to be completely on our own.