While I wrote last week about my slipper-y experience at the eye doctors’ and the lab, this week the amusement begins where the eye check-up ended, and quite literally I almost landed up creating a spectacle. Of myself. Almost.
It’s been a couple (or so) years since I set foot in the 40s. Sure enough, in this year I experienced many occasions when the fine print blurred in front of my eyes, and I saw… well didn’t see… well couldn’t see… you know what I mean… the signs were all there. So when the eye doctor announced I had developed an “age appropriate” number for nearness in addition to the distance number I already had, it wasn’t much of a surprise. The term “age appropriate” did rattle me, and I wasn’t too happy about my ophthalmologist treading dangerous territory. In hindsight, he looked pretty uncomfortable too, perhaps another patient of his went berserk and he was watching me like a hawk, almost sitting in a defensive pose, ready to defend himself as needed!
He recommended progressive lenses and off I went to the optician. Ever preparing for the unforeseen, I have been in the habit of always buying two pairs of glasses, to have one always available as a backup. Thinking back I’m not sure what calamity exactly I am expecting my glasses to suffer. Maybe the fact that I might sit on them? Whatever the reason, it was borderline obsessive to always buy two. My husband might argue that this obsession is not just limited to glasses. But that’s another story for another day. Moving on!
I entered the store with my new prescription for glasses and very breezily announced to the optician, “I need three pairs of glasses, two regular and one dark glasses!” Bear in mind the last time I had purchased my standard two pairs of glasses was nearly a decade ago, and I had no idea just how expensive glasses had gotten since then. I was about to find out.
I could see the wheels and cogs inside the poor optician’s brain whirring through the panic in his eyes. If he told me just how expensive three pairs of glasses would turn out to be, he would have probably lost a customer. Instead, he dug into the recesses of his brain and came up with a brilliant answer, one that assured his sale while saving face for his absolutely clueless customer.
He looked up at me, eyes calm now and said “Madam, progressive lenses take some getting used to. I would suggest buy one pair today, settle into it and then buy another once your eyes get accustomed to this type of lens.”
That made perfect sense, and for once I decided to break my two pair rule and go with the expert advice. Frames were tried on, lens options were discussed and I was presented with the final quote. My new pair of glasses might as well have been made of gold for the amount they cost me. And as I made the payment, I realised just how astute the salesman had been with his suggestion and had saved me from myself.
As I left the store, I thanked him silently. Without creating a spectacle!
Author’s Note – This post originally appeared in SiyaWoman. The content has been slightly changed for relevance to present time. Republished with permission from SiyaWoman. Link to original post – http://www.siyawoman.com/creating-a-spectacle/
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