j a n s e n. i. s. m.

I’ve been planning to replace my old, dirty and broken eyeglasses this month. Somehow, like most of my shopping attempts, I’ve been having difficulty finding and choosing the frame that would  fit me best, while trying to be extra careful to avoid the buyer’s remorse which happens most of the time.

Not all know this, but I wear eyeglasses at home. Everywhere else, I would prefer the discreetness and light feeling, clear contact lenses provide. I remember my first eyeglasses, this was way back in junior year high school. I used it specifically for Mrs. Realica’s Chemistry class, in which we had a different seating arrangement. I was seated on the second to the last seat in the first row and from such distance, it was extremely difficult to see the chemical formulas Mrs. Realica was trying to equate on the board.  As soon as I had complained this to my mom, she took me to an optometrist in Cavite City, had my first Snellen Chart test then a week later I was wearing eyeglasses. I just couldn’t stand the eyeglasses for more than 30 minutes and somehow I knew in myself that I wasn’t destined to be remembered as one of the nerds in school so I decided not to keep it for long.

Come college, I would wear eyeglasses only during exams and lectures. As a workaround, I would sit closest to the blackboard in order to cope with my poor eyesight. It wasn’t until third year college that I found a more convenient solution for my dilemma, I tried contact lenses. My mother disapproved this the way strict parents would not let their daughters have BFs before 18. But I purchased this from my own allowance, already had them on when I broke down the news to her, and  now have been a contact lens wearer for more than 4 years.

Fast forward to present, this afternoon, I went to three optical stores at the local mall in search for that perfect eyeglasses replacement. My medical reimbursement allowance from work has been recently replenished and I thought I’d splurge this time on eyeglasses, as an investment as well. After not finding anything interesting in the first two shops, the last hope I had was finding it in Optical Works. I asked the saleslady to get the two frames I had a crush on from the locked display cabinet — a fully rimmed black steel frame, the other: a half-rimmed, plastic frame also in black. I was torn between the two. The people in this shop are nice and not really intimidating. While I was deciding between the two choices, two salesmen approached me, offered other frames to try on and gave their own sales opinion. The other salesman turned out to be an optometrist. I knew this the moment he wore that white jacket usually associated with doctors and led me to the examination room. He is Dr. Mark, he has no hair for it is shaved, a big guy but not obese. He’s the most friendly doctor I’ve had consultation with and the most sales-talkative as well but in a nice way. After the test, it was confirmed that my eyesight has gone poorer from -1.75 and -1.50 to -3.00 and -2.25.

About an hour later, my new eyeglasses are ready. I really wanted that Calvin Klein but I knew it was just way too pricey for me and unless I am moving on to eyeglasses full time, it wouldn’t be too practical to purchase that. So I settled with the second choice and I have the new eyeglasses on now for about 4 hours. So far no buyer’s remorse but definitely this time, I can see things more clearly.