# Learned how to read a clock



## Luzali (Jul 4, 2018)

This is ridiculous but for me its a bit of a triumph.

Im 29 and just this week I learned how to read a 12 hour clock. 

When I was a kid and in school we were being taught how to tell the time, the teacher was very critical and would go crazy over any little mistake and make us all feel really stupid - she hated kids and shouldnt have been a teacher. 
Whatever way she taught us how to read the clock it didnt make sense to me, she had no patience so im sure this was a factor.

To add to this my mother was very critical, any little mistake I made was made into a big deal and she would constantly call me stupid. When she tried teaching me how to tell time and I didnt get it straight away she would get very angry. Both of my parents would call me a duns and once made me a paper hat with a big D written on it, my mother told me every day that I was going to end up in the special needs school where she worked because I was so stupid, she would be so ashamed that she'll have to leave her job so she'll have to sell the house because she wont be able to afford the mortgage and I will have ruined her life because of my stupidity - I excelled in English and all my other subjects, I just didn't like math so for this I was severely punished.
My parents would put me on the spot and ask me math questions knowing it made me nervous, they would then make fun of me when I didnt get the answer straight away, tell me I was stupid, no good, and should be in special needs. 

The criticism must have really effected me as my whole life I avoided clocks and anything to do with maths, I had a fear of numbers. Any time I looked at a 12 hour clock it would bring back feelings of inadequacy and I would feel stupid so I never attempted to learn how to tell time. I could work out addition, subtraction, multiplication and percentages in my head with accuracy but if someone asked me a maths question I would freeze and avoid the question.

Im now a teacher, im trained to teach Art and English to second second level teenagers and adult education. 
Last week I was offered a subbing position in a Primary kid school as theyre desperately in need of teachers, I took it and on the first day I was told I have to teach the kids how to tell the time. I had a gut reaction to this and was filled with anxiety, I was convinced I was going to look stupid and everyone will see what an idiot I am but I had no choice but to teach the class. 

I had a little bit time to prepare before the class started so I had to look at a clock and teach myself how to tell time but in under 20 seconds I was able to read the clock with no problems. I can tell time, all these years I avoided clocks and thought I couldn't read them and thought that im too stupid.. when in fact I always could. 
I also had to teach weight which I easily explained to the class, unaware that I had known how to do this my whole life and never realised how easy it actually all is. 

I know how stupid this sounds - I sound so stupid but I think its kind of interesting and shows the effects that criticism can have on some people and makes me wonder what else im capable of that ive always believed I couldnt do.


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## Kevin001 (Jan 2, 2015)

Hey that is still a huge accomplishment congrats .


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## Kanarko (Apr 8, 2018)

there's always time
for a joke


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## AffinityWing (Aug 11, 2013)

I feel you OP. I couldn't read time on clocks at all until I was around 12/13 and I may still have a bit of a hard time with it occasionally. My uncle still laughs at me about it and likes to "quiz" me by asking me to read the clock. It made me kind of avoid actual clocks, as well since I'm always relying on the digital time. 

There's other things that I couldn't figure out how to do until a later age that are embarrassing to admit, such as tying my shoes and recognizing coins. (Well, I still have a problem with the coin part. It makes me very anxious that I'll have to do it, as part of a retail or fast food job when I don't even tell apart a dime from a quarter..) I've struggled with unlocking doors, not knowing from which side to insert a key and my brother and mother have called me a retard because of it. 

There's other common sense things I have had a difficult time learning, even though I've been called smart in school. I wouldn't know if it's some sort of learning disability, since I've never gotten it checked but I have always kind of suspected something. 

Although I avoided learning to tell time afterwards, partially because of SA and feeling stupid which seems to be where your issue has stemmed from. The great thing is we live in the age of the internet so you can feel free to look up videos on Youtube or online guides such as WikiHow for telling time and practice with them! Good luck and I hope all goes well.


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## Kilgore Trout (Aug 10, 2014)

This genuinely made me feel happy.
Congrats OP.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## anonymous54197405123 (Dec 26, 2018)

Damn. Some things just seem so impossibly complicated until they aren’t. I think some people’s minds subconsciously avoid these things that seem impossibly complicated because of their intimidation factor and it causes our conscious minds to think that they can’t be done. Then when we finally do these things or figure them out of achieve them etc they’re surprisingly simple and accomplishable. I have problems with stuff like this all the time. Good for u OP.


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## Lana (Dec 25, 2018)

@Luzali, congratulations! This is really great when you find out that you actually can do something that you were afraid of for so long. Happy for you

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## AllGlad (Feb 16, 2018)

I had a mother that was judgemental as well. Poked and laughed the things I did when I was young in a teasing way. Because she was authority figure I could fight back or else...
I guess I am bitter about this with my mom, and I make fun of her constantly in a patronizing way with technology... I think I should stop...


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## Ms kim (May 15, 2017)

That's great


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## CNikki (Aug 9, 2013)

Sounds like dyscalculia. I've suspected that I may have it even though I was never properly diagnosed. Maths has been my worst subject even to this day and there were times I would be on the verge of tears due to the reminder (like you, due to shame and ridicule, but it was mostly by teachers...)


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## millenniumman75 (Feb 4, 2005)

Luzali said:


> This is ridiculous but for me its a bit of a triumph.
> 
> Im 29 and just this week I learned how to read a 12 hour clock.
> 
> ...


It's still a fear you faced.

For me, it was the opposite. I got in trouble several times in kindergarten for watching the clock. It was the type that would silent and then only move at every minute. Tick and tock three seconds later to the new minute....just fascinated my five year old mind. Well, I find out years later that that clock will not work by itself. All of the clocks in the school were wired to the one in the main office. The main one would send an impulse of electricity throughout the building to prepare the clocks for the new minute and they would go, shutting down the impulse. Every hour at minute 58....all the clocks would POP....that's the moment the electromagnets would force the clocks to synchronize for the new hour. 1960s technology.

They tore down my school in 2016 and I got to stand in that same classroom one last time....35 years after I left it. The clock was on the wall....stuck at 9:18, the moment the clocks were shut down. They wouldn't let me have the clock even though I talked to guy who repaired them!!!

I ended up buying one off eBay for $20.


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