Day 47
I wear glasses. Have done so since I was about 7. As I’ve been told (because I do not remember) we were somewhere and my dad asked me to read a sign and I couldn’t see it. Not something a parent wants to hear, “WHAT sign?”.
So – off we went to some eye doctor to pick out my first pair of glasses. After the exam, where I said, “What E?”, I got to pick out my frames. And they were beauties … Sugar Plum Fairy Pink. I have no idea why on Earth I remember the name of those frames … but I do … all these years later! They, obviously, made some deep impression on me. Or maybe I just liked the name – who wouldn’t? At Christmas time I wouldn’t just have sugar plums dancing in my head – I’m have them on my FACE! Cool!
And yes – I’m sure I looked radiant in those pink, somewhat sparkly (not quite glitteresque), cat-eyed frames. Yes. Radiant.
Just like Wilbur.
As the years progressed I got more pairs of glasses … there were (again with the cat-eyed frames) soft rose shiny ones … then the same frame in a soft blue shiny metal. Then when I was in junior high I grew up and got tortoise rimmed frames. Very cool. Problem was they were oval and my sister called me BEN … as in Ben Franklin. Nice.
The summer before high school I got soft contacts … the first pair that my eye doctor ever sold (or so he told me). I was so cool. So chic. And I’m sure my parents wanted to kill me off that first year because I went through about 7 pairs. This was not in the time of disposable lenses. Nor the ones you could sleep in or extended wear. Or cheap. These I had to disinfect every night – but in a steamer of sorts and cook. Yeah – try that when camping!
Anyway – I ripped one with my mascara wand (ow) … another grew some sort of fungus or had some sort of protein build-up on it. The next pair I contaminated by spraying Right Guard into my face instead of into my armpits (probably in a hurry from gym class to get dressed and to my next class in the allotted 3 minutes!). The next pair I did the same thing – but with aerosol hairspray. WHY was I using hairspray in the first place? My hair was stick straight and to my butt!
Years later I tranferred to hard lenses. Not as comfy but they lasted eons. Then I had gas permeables … more comfy and they, too, lasted eons. I had one pair (don’t tell my doctor) for 12 YEARS! I loved that pair of lenses.
And then as I aged my eyes dried out and being in Denver that didn’t help either … too arid. With a drying up body and humidity lurking around 13% wearing hard plastic discs (no matter how breathable) became too much of a discomfort to endure.
So, I am back to glasses. And I hate them. They don’t fit correctly, they are crooked on my face, they are always dirty, and they are so scratched it’s like looking out of waterford crystal. If only …
In any case, moving to a more humid climate might help with the contact situation – otherwise, I’ll be looking for new glasses soon. Maybe they have an adult version of Sugar Plum Fairy Pink?