My personal experience with glasses - part 2 By the time I was 22 or 23 a lot of things had changed.
Soft lenses had arrived and they were more affordable than my GP lenses.
Not only that, but now opticians were selling lenses.
Every optician now had a machine that could test and gauge your eyes and good opticians could now sell you lenses in a few minutes! What they did was have the lenses ready in steps of -0.25 in most common numbers, ranging from -1 to -5 and that was that.
While bausch and Lomb was the best and pioneers in this technology, CIBA was available too and I found no difference in comfort.
What was incredible was the result. For a person who had worn super-uncomfortable lenses most of his life, the new soft lenses felt like 2 little drops of water in my eyes.
Also it was now impossible to judge if I was wearing lenses.
GP lenses were smaller than my iris, if you looked hard enough you could see the outline. The soft lenses had a larger diameter and were easier to wear.
Downsides: You could end up wearing them inside out by mistake.
You could tear them if you weren't careful.
If you rubbed your eyes too hard, you could dislodge them (A common problem I had with GP lenses earlier, a couple of times getting my GP lens lodged firmly under my eyelids)
You had to be extra careful and now no longer could use just water.
In those days there were 2 separate liquids. One to clean the lens and the other to store it in. If you went anywhere, or even went to spend the night, you needed a little kit with your lens holder and the 2 bottles.
Spending the night spontaneously at a friends was out of the question.
The chances of losing and not finding the lenses were now greater as they would adhere to any surface on the flight down to the ground.
And yet I persevered. It was my mothers legacy and I was stuck with it. I would not leave home with my glasses on, choosing to wear them for 14 to 18 hours at a stretch sometimes.
My close friends had all seen me with my glasses at home and they would tease me. Come down and take the book! Dwayne would shout from down. (we had no mobile phones) No you come up.
Hahaha you're not handsome right now? NO I would say laughing.
This word handsome stuck on till I was much older. As I grew older i cared less and often I would go out with my glasses on. A common joke would be to suddenly stare at my face and say What happened? What happened? I would ask, often forgetting the glasses on my face. You don't look handsome today.
hahaha. All of us still laugh about it today.
Often I thought about getting an operation done. Even went for a consulation.
My cousin had an operation done, he had a permanent lens implanted in his eyes and one of them went wrong, it turned a bit and they had to cut him open again.
later he did another operation that altered his eyes from inside. it was not a laser guided operation and it was a big mistake. Things did go wrong and it was finally by the 3rd operation that he was totally rid of his glasses. His number was less than mine, -3.
Today it has been about 11 years since his procedure and he is well and fine.
Lasik was introduced in India by the time I was around 28 or 29. It was new and even though I studied it, I had no courage. Plus people suggested I wait for a few years.
I waited with my mother's legacy in my head.
Disposable soft contact lenses had already arrived, the ones you would wear for 30 days and then simply throw away. They were made by Bausch and Lomb in Ireland and you could buy them in packs of 10
(I had to buy 20 as I had 2 different numbers in my eyes)
I had started carrying an extra pair in my bag to work and now the regret had all but gone when they were lost. They now cost around Rs. 200/- each ad I was earning now. Plus the problem of dust and discomfort was greatly reduced.
I still had problems, when I would go swimming (for example) I could not see clearly. it would be stupid to wear glasses in the pool and I could barely see without them.
But better to be blind than have the girls see me with my glasses.
PLUS the sadness of not being able to wear all the cool sunglasses that everyone else could....
The cool thing was that Bausch And Lomb had released an all-in-one solution and so from 2 bottles, I had to only carry one. It was called Renu (pronounced renew, not renu, lol). Still available.
But worst of all would be to come home piss-drunk on a fun night, lose my lenses in my stupor, wake up in the morning with a headache and not know where the crap my glasses were either!!!
Last edited by Sam Kapasi : 22nd August 2008 at 14:26.
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