Friday, February 14, 2020

Glasses - A boon and a curse


          Where's my glasses? These are the wrong pair! The age of many pairs of glasses is a challenge that had not been considered in younger years. I had a friend who was very conscious of her appearance to others, but she still needed reading glasses after she got past her 40's. She did have a glamorous pair for reading that she would hang about her neck on a lovely chain when presiding over a meeting or conducting a class. At home, however she had a pair of ordinary reading glasses wherever she might need them: by her cookbooks, at each phone station in her house, by her favorite lounge chair. But once put on the bridge of her nose and used, she would forget to remove them and so when she returned to a specific spot, once again she couldn't see because the glasses had been deposited elsewhere in her home. A source of frustration to be dealt with.
           And then there is the two pair situation. Needing one for normal sight, driving, etc. and a different pair for reading. If both look the same a person is apt to start driving away from one's home, only to discover that the glasses now on your face are the reading glasses and will not work very well for the task at hand.
          More?  Oh yes,,there were three, or four. ... near sighted, sunglasses, bifocals, trifocals, decorative frames, night driving, blue light filters, wraparounds,  high density. The list of possibles goes on.
         I have discovered  some of these other types of glasses that are of benefit for me. Luckily they are easily identified so I don't get them mixed up. The help each one delivers is needed in completely different circumstances. Attending a brightly lit sports arena is the place for the night light glasses as well as driving in the darkened hours. Working on the computer at work or at home is easier using blue light filter glasses. I discovered these wonderful things cut down on migraine headaches, or for me, optical migraines. Who knew such glasses even existed? And of course they haven't existed for a particularly long time because technology didn't challenge our forebears, reading and near-sightedness or far- sightedness was sufficient.  Llilghting in the home differed as well.
         How about sunglasses, also one that is needed more frequently than in the younger years. Multiple choices with this one. Does a person have the darkening type put into their prescription glasses, or not? Advantages and disadvantages to this. Does a person require a front only view, or a wraparound that blocks light on the sides as well?
          Consider the need for this wonderful tool. How lucky we are to live in a time when these various needs can be fulfilled. Imagine what it would be like if there was no help for the problem of deteriorating sight. If magnification was all that was available. I vote for multiple pairs of glasses and finding a way for each individual to place them where needed, when needed.

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