By the time I had bought my first watch, I was twelve- maybe thirteen. As far as I’m concerned, looking at it with my present knowledge of what this would eventually put me through, I can say that this is the exact point when my life, as I knew it, ended. Perhaps it’s even when my life *should* have ended.

See, the problem with an addiction like this is that it sneaks up on you. Nobody goes into buying their first watch with the plan to become addicted. You think, “I’ll just get this one, and then I’m done for good.” However, that first watch soon turns to your second, then your third. At this point, although you may not realize it, you no longer intend on stopping. You’ll instead start attempting to justify it, saying to yourself something along the lines of “I see *this person* wearing a watch all the time, and they seem to function perfectly fine.”

Such was the way the addiction struck me. Before I knew it, I had scraped into every amount of savings I had left just to buy yet more watches. I found my urges compounding on themselves by the day. Obviously, this plan was unsustainable- the well was drying up and I had no way to fill it. Eventually, it reached its breaking point. I had exhausted every last cent I could find. Of course, running out of resources to sustain my addiction only caused me to double down on it. All my time became solely focused on getting more money to feed my ever-growing watch collection. However, I was still under the age of employment in my area, so I had to turn to *other* sources of income.

It started innocently enough- petty shoplifting, pinching change from under bus seats and out of fountains- but as my urges grew, so too did my desperation. My crimes became bolder, more dangerous. I did horrible things. Depraved things. Some of them I will take to my grave, as I struggle to admit them even to myself. I have lived this way for years- longer, I’d imagine, than some of you have even been alive.

And here I stand today, a lifeless, soulless husk of the person I once was, listlessly shambling through life, stopping only to entertain my endless, insatiable obsession, until I will eventually be unceremoniously picked off by a stray flick of Death’s scythe. The least I can do is implore you all to not follow in my footsteps.

**Do not ever** consider buying your own watch.

**Do not ever** accept a watch as a gift from somebody else.

**DO NOT EVER** let yourself forget how something as simple as a watch addiction can cause catastrophic damage to your life.

These are dangerous thoughts. Seek counseling to kick them as soon as you can. Those who describe watches as a “gateway clock” are not only telling the truth, but understating it.


[https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lwjlif/what\_was\_the\_dumbest\_rule\_your\_school\_enforced/gpi37vq?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/lwjlif/what_was_the_dumbest_rule_your_school_enforced/gpi37vq?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)