I’m Trading My Apple Watch Series 7 for the Apple Watch SE
And I’m doing it for an invisible feature.
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The Apple Watch has, for a long time, been a conundrum for me. On some days, I find that it is a device that I am inseparable from, leaning on its ability to show me my texts and music without pulling out my phone and trusting it to keep track of my health through heart rate and sleep monitoring. On other days, I can’t be bothered to take it off the charger. And sometimes I’m still finding myself preferring to wear a good, old-fashioned analog timepiece on my wrist instead of a technological marvel.
Lately, however, I have been using it more and more. I’m going back into the office every other week now, so it is useful to help me keep an eye on incoming messages or calls when I can’t have my phone out, and I’m relying on it a lot for silent alarms and timers to make sure I’m returning for breaks or signing into meetings on time. As I’m readjusting to workplace normalcy (what even is normal these days?), I’m finding my Apple Watch to be a more constant companion. But as much as I’ve been content with my Apple Watch Series 7, there’s one new feature that Apple introduced with the latest models that I’ve started to think of as a must-have. And it’s one that I hope I never actually have to use.
Along with returning to the office, I’m also having to drive to the office again. As much as I wanted to continue working from home in perpetuity, I’ve been finding that I don’t mind being in the office as much as I thought I would (as long as we keep masking and social distancing… this thing is absolutely still a thing). What I am minding is the commute, and more specifically, how dangerous the highway between my home and my office feels.
Ever since I got this job, I felt that this drive was the worst part of my work day; it’s only a 20-minute drive even in heavier traffic, but the people driving on this particular interstate seem to think they are at the Daytona 500 instead of on a 65-mile-per-hour highway. Even as I’m leaving my neighborhood, cars are driving too fast and cutting too close when they try to swerve around each other. And once I get onto the highway, it feels like I’m taking my life into my own hands. Almost immediately, I need to find a way to get 2–3 lanes over to avoid…
