four-eyes

I picked up my new glasses today. They will definitely take some getting used to...

The last pair I purchased had all the bells and whistles. (I think I was trying to use up my flex benefits at the end of that particular year.) I had trifocals, featherweights, and progressive lenses, plus the anti-scratch coating, the UV filter, and magnetic snap-on sunglasses. Those glasses were prime real-estate and I loved them. But they were six years old.

My ophthalmologist wanted to try a new prescription before launching me into cataract surgery. He thinks we can postpone it for a year. (Personally, I'd just as soon have had it now while I'm healthy, especially since there was the possibility I would actually not need glasses for distance once new lenses were implanted.) But I trust him, so I went for the new prescription.

These new glasses are not bad looking for a cheap frame, but the bifocal part is totally weird. The line between close -up and far-away is smack dab in the middle of my line of sight. As I was being fitted, the optician bent the lenses down a bit, and finally set the glasses slightly down on my nose. (They would have ended up there eventually as the temples loosened, but it didn't seem like a good sign that we were starting out from that position.)

I've had bifocals with the line in the past. In fact, my first pair were bifocals when I was seven years old. They called me "four-eyes". Bifocals with a line are no big deal, just not as attractive as invisible progressives. I don't need to be attractive, but I do need to see without tripping all over myself. I have a nasty suspicion these were made incorrectly... that the very generous discount offered to our community by this particular optical shop may not be worth it if I can't see with the glasses they provide. It's a quandry. I don't want to seem ungrateful or inordinately picky, but if I fall down the stairs I'm not going to be a happy camper.