Talked to an old wrench at the co-op and it made me rethink my torque routine

Was helping out at the shop on Saturday and this retired guy, must have been 70, watched me prepping a fork. I torqued the stem bolts, did the crisscross, all by the book. He just said, "that's fine, but you're trusting the tool, not your hands." Then he showed me how he checks by feel, just a slight twist of the wrist after the click. I always thought torque wrenches were the end of the argument. But he has a point, especially on older bikes where the parts are worn or someone else already stripped a thread. Now I'm not saying toss the wrench, but I find myself double checking with a hex key after I finish, just to see if something feels off. Has anyone else run into a situation where following the numbers still left a bolt loose or a stem creaking?

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