My grandparents said people who don’t wear watches are nobodies and give off poor impressions

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Basically they said it is the equilvalent of seeing a dog without a collar

They said I should wear a watch because it makes me look like someone who cares about time and distinguishes me from an average person who doesn’t care.

Thoughts?

Context:

This convo started because they realised that I wasn’t wearing a watch outside and they have been more often than not nagging at me to wear a watch.

I mostly just take a quick look at my phone for the time but I didn’t feel like using the phone as a counter argument to them since it felt like a weak point.

in GenZby Mxcah_fooooo

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murklore

24d

This is a very old-fashioned idea. And also it goes to show that they are very insecure about their own status in society if they have to not only follow but reinforce such trivial status symbols in order to feel like they are superior to someone.

There are a lot of fashion standards that were started as a means of "quietly flaunting wealth".

High heels. These were often used when riding horses because the heels would hold onto the stirrups better. So it meant you were wealthy enough to own horses. And, since they are so immensely uncomfortable to walk in, it meant you were wealthy enough to not need to walk everywhere all the time, so you could wear the uncomfortable shoes and stay seated enough to not worry about them hurting.
Long, manicured fingernails. This implied that you did not need to work with your hands. You can't really do much with long nails, so if you were able to maintain long fingernails and soft hands, it meant you were wealthy enough to not need to work.
Pale skin. This implied that you did not need to work outside like laborers.

Eventually, status symbols evolved into more material possessions - nice clothes that can only be dry-cleaned, nice cars with horrendous gas mileage, expensive jewelry and watches, etc etc.

There are a lot of people who believe that society is broken into the "haves" and the "have nots", and that belonging to the former group gives you status, privilege, and power, and that the latter group is unworthy of respect or empathy. The latter group is dehumanized and subjugated. As such, even people on the lower end of the "haves" feel compelled to "prove" that they belong in the "haves" group so that they are not treated the way the "have nots" are treated.

Your grandparents believe that a nice watch helps establish one's position in the "haves" group, and they genuinely believe they are giving you good advice to help you establish your own position in the group, but culture has evolved so much within even their own lifetime that those status symbols are no longer the same. They will likely wear watches until the day they die, and will likely insist that others do the same, but you are under no obligation to heed their advice.