Glasses makes us look stylish, and comes in all sort of shapes; from the circular to the common square and rectangular shapes each giving us a unique look, making us look and feel cute in our own way. Unfortunately not everyone uses glasses in order to feel or look good but use it 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 at childhood from using glasses, though I’ve been photo-phobic from childhood, it was negligible and didn’t use glasses until last year. I sometimes had difficulty in 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 my books for 8 to 10 hours straight while I was in the university and it began to tell on me (I studied physics so you had to read for hours or you’re going nowhere).
I suddenly noticed I couldn’t see things clearly almost like the words were moving on books and had to concentrate before I could finally grasp what was written, I ignored all these until it happened in the exam hall.
It was in my third year (300 Level) during PHY 301 (circuit theorem) exam, I suddenly realized I could hardly read what I had written and the prints on the question paper was also blurry, I could see the words but they were moving here that I could hardly grasp what was written. I had to close my eyes for few seconds and opened them, after which I could see clearly again. That was the beginning of the struggle. I was photo-phobic and couldn’t see words clearly, almost like words were moving on the sheets. Got tested few months later where it was discovered that I had astigmatism and was given a slightly tinted glasses due to light sensitivity, with focal length of….( wouldn’t say) due to the astigmatism. Basically my glasses make things smaller, and I was advised not to read for too long but that’s an 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 when 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 wanted it was annoying.
My nose constantly gets marked- My glasses isn’t a tight one but it keeps marking my nose perhaps because I put on glasses 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 little bit embarrassing for me. At a point I had to search for remedies online, one includes mixing tomatoes with lemon and all sort of things, did that for some time as shown in 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 really used to my glasses being on my face for 24 hours that I sometimes forget that my glasses even exists. 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 that I only remove it when I wake at midnight to pee or something. It’s mostly not my fault but having a light sensitive 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- Just as @Sequoia mentioned being called a “four eyed stick” by her friends in her article titled My 3 major struggles of wearing an eyeglass, I also go through the same thing but not from outsiders as they dare not, but from 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 say them all due to limited time. I decided to write a bit of my experience on reading @Sequoia’s post about her three major struggles. Feel free to share your experience in the comment section.
Thanks for reading!
People with glasses face some struggles. But I like how people with glasses look like. I never had to wear some when younger, now I need them to read.