Four Eyed Stick: My glasses and I

...from the circular to the common square and rectangular shapes each giving us a unique look, making us look and feel cute in our way.

Unfortunately, not everyone uses glasses to feel or look good but uses them due to an eye defect. I am one of the many people that didn’t get their glasses from the usual fashion house but from an optician, had to undergo a series of weird tests which I’d rather not talk about, thinking about it freaks me out.

I am among the lucky few that didn’t get bullied in childhood for using glasses, though I’ve been photo-phobic since childhood, it was negligible, and didn’t use glasses until the year 2020. I sometimes had difficulty seeing at some point but I’ve always been good at keeping things to myself hence my parents weren’t aware of the difficulty I had. I ignored it over the years I got used to it until I couldn’t take it anymore.

I guess it got worse because I usually read for 8 to 10 hours straight while I was in the university and it began to tell on me not long after (I studied physics so you Ito read for long hours or I wasn’t going anywhere).

I suddenly noticed I couldn’t see things almost like the words were moving on books and had to concentrate before I could finally grasp what was written, I ignored all this until it happened in the exam hall.

It was in my third year (300 Level) during Circuit Theorem (PHY 301) exam, and I suddenly realized I could hardly read what I had written and the prints on the question paper were also blurry. I could see the words but they were moving ‘here and there’ such that I could hardly grasp what was written. I had to close my eyes for a few seconds and re-opened them, after which I could see again. That was the beginning of the struggle.

I was photo-phobic and also couldn’t see words clearly, almost like words were moving on the sheets. Got tested a few months later where it was discovered that I had astigmatism and was given slightly tinted glasses due to light sensitivity, with a focal length of….( wouldn’t say). My glasses make things smaller and was advised not to read for too long but that’s advice I’d never take.

My everyday struggles

People think you’re blind without your glasses

I find this really annoying and sometimes want to punch people in the face whenever they say this. I’m a peace-loving person (or not) so I simply ignore them. People see you on the street and ask if you can see clearly. I was watching TV at home once when a neighbor came in, saw me without my glasses, and asked a very weird question “can you see me, how many fingers is this?” I simply smiled but it was annoying.

My nose constantly gets marked

My glasses aren’t tight but it keeps marking my nose perhaps because I use them all the time, and this has resulted in discoloration. Due to this, I try as much as possible not to remove my glasses while in public cos’ it’s a bit embarrassing for me. At a point, I had to search for remedies online, including mixing tomatoes with lemon and all sorts of things. Did that for some time as shown in the below image worked but couldn’t continue cos’ I’ve been busy ever since and completely forgot about it.

Falling asleep with glasses on

I’ve gotten used to my glasses being on my face for 24 hours that I sometimes forget that my glasses even exist. I sometimes hit my hand on my glasses in an attempt to scratch my face before realizing my glasses are still there. I fall asleep with my glasses on most nights I only remove them when I wake at midnight to pee or something. It’s mostly not my fault but having light sensitivity is a real struggle hence I have to put on glasses all the time, the real world is just too bright for me.

Being called a four-eyed stick

I am constantly called a ‘four-eyed stick’, not by outsiders as they dare not, but by my roommates while in the university. They sometimes teased me whenever I was searching for something in the room and I didn’t have my glasses on, their words would be “you won’t see it until you put on your glasses”. Those words are annoying but they’re the only people with the right to say so, hence I simply smile and it ends up in a pillow fight.

And many more….. there are so many struggles attached to the use of glasses that I cannot possibly mention them all due to limited time. I decided to write a bit about my experience today on my major struggles with using glasses.

If you have a similar experience, feel free to share your experience in the comments.

Originally published at read.cash.

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