Progress: Part I
What do you think of my new glasses?
They finally arrived in the mail yesterday, 17 days after I ordered them.
If you have been connected with me for any length of time – be it school, music, church, social media, etc. – then you might know that I’m notoriously slow when it comes to replacing eyewear. Some of that has to do with the time when I first started wearing glasses. The pair I bought in my second year at Florida A&M University cost about $500. This was in 1997, which meant that $500 took a bit longer to round up.
I wore that same pair until 2018, when the metal frame finally wore away and broke. Of course, 2018 was different in that the internet was far more entrenched into our daily lives, glasses are mostly plastic and much cheaper. Lenscrafters used to advertise that they make your glasses in an hour while you wait. Now, everyone and their mother – including mine, because she’s overdue herself – orders theirs and waits two weeks. I could have bought two pair in 2018 for what I paid back in 1997 and had money left over.
Starting about 2021, something odd began to happen. My prescription for years had been for near-sightedness with a touch of astigmatism, but I was all of a sudden having to take off my glasses and hold the ibuprofen bottle inches from my face to read the print. Reading books was getting blurry and then even my phone became a hassle. If you’re age 40 and above, chances are that you know exactly where I’m going with this. I had entered that magical age in my life where I have to put on my glasses to see… and then take them right back off in order to see.
Those various selfies where I have taken sans glasses had nothing to do with vanity and everything to do with not being able to see the phone clearly!
As a pianist, I often have to read musical notation of various sizes, particularly when I am accompanying someone. It is not as much an issue when sitting at an electric keyboard, but when at the piano, I was having trouble seeing the notation clearly. If I wore my glasses, I would have to lean back to read the notes and lean forward to read the dynamic markings. The last classical recital I played with my friend Jason, I took off my glasses and leaned in.
After three years of this, I finally bit the bullet and dropped the money on an eye exam. If not for the “reading music” problem, I would have likely just continued. The suggestion was progressive lenses, which was no surprise. Of course, progressive lenses drive up the price point on the glasses. Since I was ordering a new pair, I decided to go ahead and try something different frames-wise. So, I went with round glasses.
To my disappointment, I did not become a deranged supervillain aka Hugo Strange, but I will acknowledge it is a nice change of pace. The different “change” I did not expect – because I was not thinking about it – is how progressive lenses skew everything in sight. Hearing that there is a learning curve is one thing; “seeing” it first-hand is something else. Wearing these is almost like wearing glasses again for the first time back when I was a kid. On the other hand, I can actually read musical scores and see the letters on my computer keyboard again. I don’t have to take off my glasses to see what I am writing.
Finally… Progressive eyewear to reflect my progressive leanings! Progress! What a way to end the year… remarking about lenses…
Happy New Year! Wishing all the best for you and yours in the days to come.
12/31/24
TKP