I had my yearly check-up at the eye doctor yesterday. I was a little worried that the person who knew my 6th grade nickname was going to be there and even if he didn't remember me, his personality was a little too friendly for my comfort.

My worries were put to rest though when I got a sales person who was new to me and she didn't try to change my mind about not wanting new glasses or sunglasses.

While I was in the exam room with the assistant (not the doctor), I explained that my distance vision is getting fuzzy. I've noticed a lot of squinting is necessary to read road signs. The assistant took note of my concerns and started up the exam. She tested my right eye first, and I could read the eye chart just fine. Then she tested the left eye, and all I could see was fuzz. I told her as much. She handed me a thing that looked like this:

I was already covering my right eye, and now she wanted me to cover my left eye with this piece of perforated plastic (I like alliteration). Not knowing how this was going to in any way determine or help my case, I covered up my left eye with it.

LO AND BEHOLD, ANGELS SANG AND I COULD READ THE LETTERS JUST FINE.

I said, "Wow. I can see great with this thing."

She put it away without another word. I wondered if perhaps the next prescripted contact lens for my left eye was going to be a circle of black construction paper with little holes poked through it. Or I could possibly be given an eye patch (which I could dress up a little with a bejeweler) with holes in it.

I was almost disappointed when the eye doctor explained that the perforated thing was just a test to see if my vision could be corrected and that my prescription just needs a little tweaking, rather than fuzzy vision being the result of cataracts or some other vision-obscuring horrible disease that would lead to me trying in vain to read with my fingers.

On a positive, nearly braggardly note, I do not need reading glasses. Yet. The doctor gave me leave to brag that my reading capabilities have not diminished despite my age. She says to consider every year spend sans reading glasses after the age of 40 to be a bonus, because most people succumb to it around 40. Jim turned 41 and had to get them and he can't do without them.

I do need glasses for everything else, BUT NOT FOR READING!

Yay me!