“I can see clearly now”…well, I should.

A trip to the opticians.

Simple.

Passed all the exams with full marks and needing close and distance glasses I chose ‘a pair’ for each type.

“Will that not confuse you,” the assistant said politely. “No, I will be fine, thank you” was my courteous reply. Remember, the customer is always right!

I have had vari-focals in the past, a kind of one pair of glasses fits all my needs, but just so hard to wear, mainly found myself living in squirly world on a daily basis. So since that period in my life I have always chosen one pair for close up/reading, one pair for distance/driving.

So, really, this time around, why would my choice ever confuse me?

I really don’t like shopping of any description, so to be a part of the optical session for 30 minutes was hard work for me to cope with and after my examinations to be shown an array of probably about 3000 pairs of glasses really overwhelmed me!

“No Sir, sorry, you can’t choose those, they are for children and those you have moved onto are more suited for women”

See, (no pun intended) not coping at all well!

So, being shown the selection suitable for men, I chose a pair, within five seconds.

“Yes, thank you, that frame, shape, colour and size will be fine,” I commented, not really wanting to try them on first, which I did though after being advised to at least see how they look on my face. Which I thought, what’s the point in that, as I can’t see ‘me’ and what I look like when I’m  wearing them!

“Yes” they are fine, thank you.

“Which lens would you like this frame for, the readers or driving?” “Yes please,” I confidently replied.

“Yes, but which? ” the assistant repeated

“Both readers and driving. I like the frame so, the same frame and frame colour for both my readers and driving please.

Which brings me right back to the assistants earlier comment, “will that not confuse you?”…..”no, I will be fine, thank you!”

In my mind I had quickly chosen a frame which I guess I liked and as I liked them then it’s obvious I would put both types of lenses into identical looking frames. I mean, why make life simple!

In another two years I will be going back to my opticians and following the next examination, if I need a pair of glasses for close work and a separate pair for driving, I will make sure one frame will be bright yellow, the other bright blue.

Confuse me, the assistant said. How did the assistant know?

Of course it confused me. The moment I put my new driving glasses on to drive home, I thought, these are no good, what has the optician done? Only then to foolishly conclude I had put put my reading glasses on! And over time, somehow I’ve managed to get them so mixed up that my driving glasses have been left in the house whilst thinking I’ve got some sort of eye defect when I’ve tried driving putting on my reading glasses instead!

This is me though. I think, why didn’t I listen to and take good advice from the assistant? Instead of saying “no, thank you, I will be fine” I had said ” oh, why’s that?” the assistant would have very much helped me to have two year’s stress free life in the optical part of my daily routine.

And to try to make it a tad better for me, I bought a different coloured glasses case so I knew which was in each but as they both looked the same, well, it’s obvious of the outcome!

By the way….the customer ( in my case, as me,) isn’t always right, more likely, often wrong!…time to listen more to those who know!

now for a cup-of-T