Aye, It's Missing

Over the holidays, something happened to me that never had before. I lost a contact lens. Now, I'd misplaced them for a while, but never failed to turn them up after a few minute's search. I was something like Daniel Boone in that regard. After the lens went missing, I was quite bent out of shape for a few minutes, finally calming down after I recovered some sense of perspective. That led, as it so often does, to my realization of the potential for a reasonable post on this blog.

I first wore glasses in the sixth grade, as I believe I've said before. I wore them continuously until about my second semester in college, when I tried contacts for the first time. They were not a success for me, suffering as I did some kind of blurriness with bright lights such as tv screens and traffic lights. I went back to the glasses until my final year of college, at which time I found them to be much more viable somehow. Either my eyes improved in some respect (unlikely) or contact technology improved. I recall easing into the wearing of them a little more day by day and fearing that they might fall out one night in Chicago while I was out seeing the remake of 'King Kong'.

As I said, I have had a lens disappear for a bit now and then, only when I was taking one out or putting one in. I don't think any such thing has happened when I was out and about. What has happened is long stretches of discomfort. Some days I have gotten little done except to rub my eyes endlessly in hopes of relieving it. Falling asleep while wearing them can bring this about. Forgetting the presence of residue from spicy food on my fingers is perhaps the worst of all. Only once did I tear a lens, and this took place after I had worn it for just far too long.

Some people, whether they wear glasses or not, look like they're supposed to. I don't think I'm one of those. That being the case and given that the inconveniences of glasses outweigh the above outlined ones, I favor contacts, although I flatter myself into thinking that I look good in glasses- perhaps something like a real author. I don't care to wear them out of the house, which I think creates a rather nice wall of privacy breached by a select few who might see me in them. I guess I'll stick with that unless a compelling reason not to surfaces.