Telling Time

As I sat in the hospital lobby waiting for clearance from my BIL to see my sister and new niece, a Hispanic fellow sat next to me observing my browsing on my iPhone. He motioned to his wrist and said something I didn't understand. From his pointing I discerned he was requesting the current time. For all I know he said nice tits!  I gave him the time and he nodded to himself and turned away (momentarily).

But how many people wear a watch these days? Most people I know use their cell phones as a time keeper. Very few people wear watches that I can recall outside of the stereotype of older, white business executives. I wonder for how many generations the universal sign for "Do you have the time?" will be relevant. Some phases remain in common usage even though their original meaning has long fallen from common knowledge (and sometimes relevance).

Oh the things I ponder!

As this gentleman has been staring at me during the entire time it's taken me to jot down this post, I'm starting to wonder what he really did say!  He only looks away when I look up, but he didn't even notice me blatantly taking a photo of him staring at me.  I love camera phones.

About an hour later I saw family starting to arrive and caught up with them near the elevators to wait for my BIL to come down.  He came downstairs, fielded dozens of the family questions, and we retreated to the cafeteria so he could eat a bit of lunch.

When we had a quiet moment I shared my thoughts with my BIL and we looked around the table.  No watches. Like clockwork (LOL!) someone asked for the time. Half a dozen cell phones whipped out.  What will the gesture be for Shutterbug a generation from now?