I agree with you, except that I think the time system is great. It was deliberately designed to be maximally divisible, and makes a lot of sense in that manner. 12 hours of daylight— a highly divisible number, with 60 small (minuscule, or “minute”) divisions of the hour, which is even MORE divisible than 12. Then when time keeping got more accurate, they added a second division of 60 more parts, and… well, called ‘em seconds.
Basically, 12 and 60 are just so divisible they make really good bases.
To be fair, we also heard them from the ninja turtles, and any other kids media and/or commercials trying to appeal to the demographic. Some of us used it sarcastically on the playground, but I don’t think any of us knew anyone who used it seriously. I think it might have been surfer slang that was co-opted by marketing departments?