I recently found out about the existence of fidget spinners. Late, I know, but I don’t get out much.

Not only are they popular, to the point of being a global craze, but they are reviewed online in detail like cars and guitars, and there are custom executive versions made from the finest materials that cost thousands of dollars, as well as basic versions that cost as little as two dollars.

Something about the fidget spinner has me very intrigued. At this point in my writings, I have yet to hold one in my hands. I have ordered one on Amazon and it is arriving tomorrow, but I have already watched several videos on YouTube, read product reviews on dedicated websites, and I am really looking forward to that first spin.

I think I need it badly. I keep finding crumpled up, damp, paper towels in my left hand, still there from the last time I washed and dried my hands. And I am having issues with teeth clenching. Physical issues aside, I just like spinning things. An upside down bicycle or scooter is like a magnet to me, drawing me in to spin the wheels and watch them turn. When I had skates, I would spin those wheels too. And that is also where I first encountered fidget spinning.

It was sometime around 1980, and there was a big skate boom going on, not the inline-skate boom that would follow later, but quad skates, which had just been revolutionized by the adaptation of these new-fangled high-speed bearings and the new wide urethane wheels.

Not only could you fidget with the wheels and spin them with your hand, but you could also extract the roller bearing, or get your hands on a spare bearing, and fidget with it, spinning it in your fingers.

A third of a century later I stumble upon a world of fidget spinning, where there are claims that it helps with attention deficit disorder, even autism. It is therapy. People who follow certain religions use various versions of strings of beads to intensify and help focus their practices and procedures, and it seems that the mechanical nature of what you do to fidget can indeed help with mental focus. It is why we used to fidget with pencils and whatever was to hand when we were kids in school. It is why we doodled with pen and paper when using the old hard-wired telephones.

And so today is Wednesday and tomorrow my first fidget spinner arrives.

My fidget spinner is here. I am fidgeting with it and it feels good. I timed a couple of good hard spins and each one lasted 2 minutes and 6 seconds. Not bad really for a $13 investment. The one I chose is unusual but I noticed a couple of online reviewers react to this one in a certain way. One guy was noticeably affected by it and a young girl kept on spinning this as she reviewed several.

I will not make any magical claims about what it does, what it treats or what it cures, but I will say that it is relaxing to just clear my mind and spin it and look at it and turn it over, or keep it still, and just generally have a wheel between my finger and thumb.

I am spinning it while doing other things, but I think the real pleasure will come when I am doing nothing else except spinning it.

A one hour walk through the local neighborhood was made more pleasant with ear buds, and the constant spinning of my fidget spinner. There was a moment when a dog was very worried about what he saw between my fingers, but that could have just been me. I do get barked at these days. Using the fidget spinner while going on a walk made me forget about left foot, right foot, tired, left foot, right foot, tired. I hate exercise, and the fidget spinner was very helpful in this regard.

And so here I am, a fidget spinner user for a few hours, and already publishing an article about it, and even thinking about which high end solid metal spinner with ceramic bearings I should buy next. They may seem pointless, or useless at first glance, but I am convinced of their value. I do believe that they would genuinely help with ADD, Autism, stress, tension, depression etc.

Not convinced? Try one out by borrowing it for a moment, or finding a demonstration model in a store. Give it a whirl.

Two weeks later.

I enjoyed fidget spinning so much, that I had to acquire a second one. This one was a bit more expensive at $30 plus shipping, (since lowered to $25), but it is much better than the wagon wheel I had already loved. It is the Secret Service Spinner, from Spinnercraft. Heavy, mirror-finish stainless steel, very small, and an R188 bearing. This one goes for over five minutes when held vertically, and about four and a half minutes when spun on a table. Not as silent as the wagon wheel, but it has a very substantial feeling. Much better actually.