2. Braun AW 200 Radio Controlled | The Academic

At the watch repair counter of a large department store, a conservatively well dressed woman with short white hair waits absentmindedly for her turn.  The watchmaker impatiently calls her forward, as the customer before her had left and the woman hadn't noticed, lost in thoughts.  From her weathered black leather purse, she takes out a a Braun AW 200 Quartz with a milanese stainless steel bracelet and requests a battery change. The watchmaker mentions the price, to which the woman agrees, and he gets to work.  The woman looks around, noticing how the store hasn't really changed that much over the last three decades, since her and her husband first visited.

It was almost thirty years ago, at this very store on their first visit, that her husband saw the Braun.  They were still made in Germany then, which, to her husband, was reason enough to purchase.  They were both in their twenties, and had just moved to Germany, awaiting the birth of their first born, seeking a better life.  The Braun was of course out of their financial reach, a fact both of them silently acknowledged.  Since this first encounter, every time after when they would go to the store, her husband would make his way over to the Braun, as if to greet an old friend, whom he hasn't seen for a long time.  A year went by, the wife and husband went to store again, to look for their child's first Christmas present.  By routine, the husband walked over to the Braun but it wasn't there.  This could only mean one thing.  His heart sunk, upset at himself for his inability to accumulate wealth, unlike his friends back home, who were all doing fantastically well in real-estates.  He cursed himself for choosing a life in academia. 

At Christmas Eve, as the wife sat with her husband in front of the small but perfectly pretty Christmas tree, she produced a handsomely wrapped present.  The husband didn't have anything for her in return, as they had agreed not to exchange gifts. Before he could mutter a word, she said quietly, 'just this once', careful not to wake the baby, who she was breastfeeding.  He carefully unwrapped the present, revealing a simple black rectangular box.  As his eyes glanced upwards, he saw Braun in red letters at the top of the box.  He gave his wife an astonished look, which pleasesd her.  He then proceeded to gingerly open the box, softly caressing the cold stainless steel milanese bracelet for the first time.  He was still in disbelieve, when she asked him if he liked his present.  'I love it', he replied. 'In fact, this is the watch that I would like to be buried with, this would be my everyday object.' he said to her in earnest.  'Sure, like the Egyptians in your papers? So that you could tell time in your afterlife?' she teased him.  

The watchmaker tells the woman that he's finished and asks her if she would like him to set the time for her.  'No thank you', she replies. 'It's radio controlled'. The woman then pays the watchmaker and leaves the store without her husband.