for seeing is feeling

I went to the eye doctor today for my annual check-up. As I waited, I watched this couple who were trying to find a new pair of frames for the wife. They looked as if they were in their fifties/early sixties, and the man wore a cowboy hat. The wife kept glancing over at me to see if I was watching them struggle with uncertainty. I was watching, of course, because what else is there to do in the office? Stare at the doctor's credentials hanging nicely on the wall? Eavesdrop to the receptionists conversations behind closed, translucent windows? I wasn't about to flip through a dull Parenthood magazine. So I watched this couple out of the corner of my eye, listening to the mumble of their bickering and indecision.

"Who wears these?"
"They are so small!"
"Those rims are too thick!"
"Just pick a pair!"
"These don't fit right."
"But you have to get them fitted anyway, so just pick."
"You're not picking for comfort!"
"I'm not?"

...and so the conversation went until one of the doctors called me in.

I rambled off letters and numbers and picked out which circle looked as if it were floating. I always feel so smart when the lady says, "Good job!", and "That's right!". It's as if I keep giving the right answers in class...and it seemingly makes up for the fact that I don't speak my mind in class. At the eye doctor, I feel as though I am never wrong. They pry answers, and every answer I give is, "Great! You got all of them right! Keep up the good work!". I catch every bone they throw, and it's amazing.

So, I am finally able to walk into the eye doctor's actual quarters, and I sit briefly in the chair while he quizzes me with more letters and a few "Better 1, or 2? Better 3, or 4?". My prescription is basically the same, and I move with sweetly dilated eyes out to where the bickering couple once stood to pick out a second pair of frames for the trip.

Isn't it lovely how they make your pupils abnormally large and your vision blurry, and then send you off to pick out new frames that will be seen on your face for long periods of time? I find it very amusing that I can never see clearly what I am purchasing. I ended up with frames that I can only hope are similar to the ones I have now, minus the squareness, plus some rounded edges. I think that they might be cute.

As I stumble out into the blinding sun, I can't help but wonder about the eye doctor. I go to get my eyes checked out, to make sure I can really see. I briefly wonder about people who stumble out into the blinding light from the cardiologist. A person's heart may be working right, and pumping blood like it should, but can it really feel? Just a thought.

"I've been things and seen places." -- Mae West