I guess this is related because a) it has to do with time and b) I experience it as a watchmaker. Customers are always coming in and they always seem to know exactly when they had their watch serviced last, or when we put the last battery in their watch. Thing is their perception of time is always off.

They say something like, “You just installed a battery in this watch about 6 months ago.” And then when I open the watch and remove the power cell I see that we installed it 3 years prior. They may also say it’s only been two years since my watch was serviced and now it has stopped. A quick review in the computer shows that it has been 7 or 8 years since we performed the service.

I like to believe people are honest and truly believe it has only been a short while since we last worked on their watches so I just assume they have no perception of the passage of time whatsoever. I’m a fine one to talk because I have a very poor memory, but I think I can usually tell if something was two years ago or 5 years ago.

I guess this is why we have watches and calendars. One shouldn’t rely on their memory - unless you are my grandpa, he has a tremendous memory!