The Swatch people, who took over my grandfather’s Certina watches, are now falling on pandemic recession. They sold a bargain Swiss watch ($50) that kept observatory time for more than five years (you had to replace the battery and straps) and that’s all I needed as a teacher. They are still in New York City, on W 72nd St. and also on Broadway near Times Square. But they closed the Roosevelt Field store on Long Island.
I don’t know how the pricey Swiss watches, like Patek-Philippe and Rolex are doing, but bargain watches like Swatch are gone. It seems once a watch is accessible, it’s no longer prized, like an expensive watch. And while I’m at it, what happened to Catholic education? Once the rival of the great US public school system, Catholic schools are now undergoing closings.
Make up your mind. Do you want a watch that gives you the essentials or do you want a watch that doubles as a piece of jewelry? Do you want an education for the child’s adulthood or the child’s potential lifetime (eternity)? When you get to be my age, life beyond death no longer sounds like fantasy. You’ve seen it and heard it more than anyone else still alive.
Civilization 