Thursday, August 18, 2005

Short Story of a JLC

I was recently showing some industry execs one of our new technology demonstrators. One of them turned out to be someone I’d known for several years and being very happy to see them I gave our demo driver a rest and took to the track with them myself. Sat alternately pinned and restrained in the passenger seat harness answering his questions as the car whooshed through its paces I noticed his wrist on the gear shift sported a JLC. I pointed it out and in his broken English, while still tackling the course, he told me its story.

His best friend had been in an accident and he had accompanied him to hospital in the ambulance. Tragically, his friend had subsequently died and my driver had been a key court witness at the inquest which established negligence on the part of the medical team attending his friend. His friend’s family had given him this watch as a simple thank you for the gruelling court cross examination and as a memento. He wore it everywhere, always. We laughed at the state of his very worn croc strap. He did not know its price and I wasn’t about to tell him, as it was, of course, totally meaningless.

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