Blinders

I did something sort of interesting the other day. I was suddenly called away from home by a friend, who wanted me to come see him perhaps a few minutes walk away. The trouble was that I didn't have my contacts in, and my roommate was in the shower. He and I have no understanding about one busting on on the other, and so I just could not get my contacts. I went out in my glasses, the prescription for which is perhaps six or seven years out of date.

I found it irritating to wear them, but resisted taking them off because it seemed like vanity. I then decided that it would be a kind of adventure to see how I would manage without any corrective lenses. I was on foot, of course. It was a stimulating experience. I was alarmed afresh at how bad my eyes have become. I can cope without lenses, I found, so long as I need not read any signs or identify persons around me. Still, it was less than ideal.

Made In The Shades

I made a trip to the local neighborhood dollar store for  a few necessary items, and noticed that the line was a little longer than I'd like, so I lingered by the impulse buy area adjacent for a minute. I couldn't help but notice the sunglasses. I typically expect the offerings for eyewear at such a place to be poor. That's what I find to be the case typically at even the best of dollar stores, so why should things be any better at less than the best?

I looked at those shades though, and I saw how wrong I was. They had some really decent stuff. I thought that since this was not a one dollar only type of establishment, the nice sunglasses I was looking at must be in excess of that price. I looked them over, admiring this pair and that, but could see no price tag on them. This signified that they were in fact only one dollar. I was amazed, and decided to override my usual reluctance to make an impulse purchase in this case.

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'.