I Can See Clearly Now

Boys don’t make passes at girls who wear glasses.

That’s how it started.

I avoided the eye doctor throughout school. I remember being in the Weatherly Heights Elementary School lunch room in the fifth grade and memorizing the fourth or fifth row down on the eye chart. You don’t want to memorize all the way down just enough so they don’t suggest you get glasses. Luckily, the eye-testing machine was broken at the time I took the driver’s license test.

Then in college, I broke down and got my first pair. I put them on and two seconds later my then-boyfriend said “You look like Harry Potter.”

I didn’t touch those again.

Towards the end of college, I got a new pair, a pair of bifocals.

I never got used to those. I fell down the stairs a ton because if you look down, you have to look through the stronger prescription and then the stair looks closer than it actually is.

A few months ago, my headaches started getting stronger. I couldn’t work for more than a few minutes without looking away. So, while I though the doctor would prescribe me another pair of bifocals, I just got a few pairs of reading glasses.

That’s a lie. I got a bunch of pairs of reading glasses.

They don’t work.

Sunday, I broke down and went to the doctor at Towne Center Mall in Kennesaw. I covered my left eye. I could read the fourth row down. I covered my right eye. E.

The big E at the top is the only letter I could read.

E.

My eyesight has been a progressive problem. Endless hours on the computer haven’t exactly helped, either.

The one thing I can tell you is this: For the first time ever, I’m writing this column without a headache.

It’s quite honestly the best feeling I’ve had in a while. As I try to study for the GMAT, I wonder about the kids who are trying to memorize those times tables in the third grade and who can’t afford glasses.

So, I wrangled up all my old glasses, all those reading glasses and some old sunglasses and found a place to send them.

If you have old prescription, reading or sunglasses, consider donating them to the Lions Club. To donate, mail them to

Lions Clubs International Headquarters
Attention: Receiving Department
300 W. 22nd Street
Oak Brook, IL 60523, USA

Tell us if you donate or want to put some glasses in the mail with ours. We can pick up a few pairs to mail in the same package to reduce sending costs if you email us.

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