So yesterday I'm at the intermediate school - helping with vision screenings... which basically means that I stood for a few hours pointing at letters on a chart while nurses listened to the kids and determined whether or not they should be referred to a doctor. All sweetness and light right? Yeah, you would think so... I had a few flashback moments as I'm standing there - I was this age when I got dragged to the eye doctor and given a monstrous pair of hideous glasses that I was embarrassed to wear at school! I also remember though that the first time I wore them outside what a relief it was to have depth perception... to realize that I might be able to JUDGE how high the curb was and how far to lift my foot instead of guessing. Whoa - just realized I've ALWAYS been a clutz, Hubby thought it was a recent development :)Anyway - back to the present! You have to know first off that these nurses were both heavier women in their 50s or 60s... and you only have to know that because of the way the 12 year old kids are viewing them... older ladies, both wearing glasses.
So this one sweet girl comes to the front of the line - and proceeds to prove that she cannot see. The nurse asks her if she has glasses that she's left at home or in her locker and she replies "I don't wear glasses" and the nurse retorts quickly "You're going to be wearing glasses now" - and the girl walks off - quickly - with tears in her eyes. I wanted to chase her down and give her a pep talk, or a hug, or SOMETHING... of course, I'm probably just another old lady with glasses (oops, I was wearing my contacts) in her mind so I let her go and get some teeny bopper consolation. Apparently the nurse was un-phased - or just didn't notice because we went right on to the next kid (who had great vision).
My question here is - for those of you who have vision issues... was it Devastating for you? Did it seem like a death sentence? Did you believe the old saying of "Boys don't make passes at girls who wear glasses"? Did you leave them in your locker and only pull them out for the bi-annual vision screening?
I certainly only wore mine during math class!
--P.S. by the end of standing there pointing for a few hours my back HURT... good thing they were also doing scoliosis checks!--
16 comments:
Makayla was blind as a bat in the 2nd grade. I think her eyes are a
-6.7 right now! She HATES to wear her glasses! BUT she does look hot with them on! SHe won't wear them though. Silly girl!
I had a blog post that I discussed my issue with glasses as a 10 year old just a while back- but yes, for a vain self-conscious youngster it was devastating. It was amazing how I could finally see the mountains. It was amazing that I had played softball with vision so poor. Like my Mom said, my mind-eyes compensated and made it work.
Interesting....I don't remember it being traumatic..of couse by then I already had an enourmous ego buster of a head gear and braces. My little one (9) got glasses this summer and was excited. She loves them and a few of her friends have requested "fake" glasses for thier b-days. Silly little ones. I bet so much of it depends on the peoples reactions around you...or the reactions you have seen others get.
It wasn't so bad, as I remember. But looking back at my elementary school pictures, I wonder why in the world my parents allowed me to enter normal society with those monstrosities perched atop my nose.
I thought it was horrible. I was in 2nd grade and was the first person to get glasses. I had to wear them. I have such awful vision from near-sightedness and an astigmatism. But, as soon as I turned 13, I got contacts. Never take them out. Thankfully, I don't have to wear the big fat glasses of old now. I get to wear these slick thin glasses even with my legally blind prescription.
Btw, I'm sad for that girl now. I'll be thinking about her all day.
Oh, and I often wonder what it's like to see "normally". Does anybody else wonder that?
I always felt left out b/c I didn't wear glasses.
(Found you through SITS)
I had glasses since kindergarten, so I honestly don't remember what it was like before. However, in 7th grade, my parents finally let me get contacts, I think in response to my getting braces.
The right one fit perfectly, but I could never get the left one in or out. So for the entire school year, I only wore my right contact. I finally came clean, and I got a proper fit, but to this day my left eye is stronger than my right.
Ah, teenage vanity!
Em
too funny! I didnt find out until i was in high school, but I didnt wear them. (My vision is not really bad)...but my sister found out when she was in 3rd grade. She was teased merclessly. Poor thing. And of course I stepped on them by mistake and make them crooked. She never forgot it....
I wore glasses from the age of 4 to 16 and let me tell you, I hated wearing those glasses, but I wore them because I had to. Man, kids were cruel back then, especially in Junior High, well Junior High is bad enough, but with wearing glasses, it made it worse. So, glad my eyes were fine after taking the vision test for Driver's ED and I didn't have to wear them anymore.
I was so blind that the new clear world glasses offered me outweighed any vanity I had about wearing them. Or maybe I was just a very deep 10-year-old who knew that real beauty comes from the inside.
Nevertheless, once I mastered contacts in the 9th grade there was no going back!
I still remember the 4th grade vision screening when a girl in my class failed. Everyone talked about her like she'd just contracted the plague! So, you can imagine how thrilled I was in 6th grade to learn I had to get some. I only wore them at home and far enough out the door my parents couldn't see me anymore (much to their chagrin). I finally bit the bullet and started wearing them always in eighth grade--life is so much easier when you can see!
check out what a bunch of vain friends I have! Oops, I mean "had" since they're all far past their vanity and see the necessity of good vision!
I'm back and forth with contacts and glasses still - depends on how active my day is going to be and whether or not I want to impress anyone I'm going to see :) (that's right - Vanity rears its ugly head... wait, would vanity have an ugly head... I don't think so - vanity would probably have a perfectly coifed and tweezed head!)
Oh-the glasses days. I thought it was kinda cool when I was 7 and needed glasses...but then I never wore them. Then 7th grade rolls around and I took the blessed eye test you just wrote about...turns out I'm basically blind.
I didn't mind wearing glasses so much, but when I got contacts a few years later I was definitely happier.
Then, the BEST day ever arrived and I got LASIK. Waking up in the morning and being able to SEE my alarm clock has to be one of the best things ever.
Going from worse than 20/400 to 20/25...worth anything!!
And also-did you want me to write a novel in your comment section? Cuz clearly I just did.
Calla just got glasses. She thinks she looks intellectual but she doesn't want to wear them. I think she looks darling in them. She would not let me post C and See! The frames are kind of cute now days, its funny how styles go in circles.
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