Nice glasses, four eyes.
My family has a history of subpar eyesight. My mother, father, grandmother, great-grandmother and a number of my cousins wear glasses. Every time my mother sits down to type away at her computer at work, she slips on her black Guess glasses. Before my dad heads out to work in the morning, he adjusts his thick-framed glasses as he gets set for yet another 10-hour work day.
While the majority of people develop poor eyesight over a long period of time, I have been wearing glasses since the first grade. For as long as I can remember, my morning routine consisted of waking up and spending about 10 minutes scavenging around my room trying to find my glasses.
I’ll never forget the day that led up to taking my first eye exam. Every Wednesday, my first-grade teacher, Ms. Smith, held a contest to determine who was the fastest reader in class. We would compete in a tournament-style format and take on our classmates as we fought to be crowned the fastest reader in the class. Before we competed in our weekly tournament, Ms. Smith stood in front of the class and said, “All right class, whoever wins fastest reader today will win an entire box of Fruit Gushers.”
In a classroom filled with sugar-craving 6-year-olds, the class went ballistic. Everyone started high-fiving around me because of the sweet prize. I knew it was game time and I was first. “Okay, Miguel, you’re up,” Ms. Smith said. I always felt I read fastest when I held things super close to my face, so I grabbed the reading tightly to my face and went to work.
“Miguel, you sound like a car auctioneer when you read,” Ms. Smith said. “I shouldn’t make you guys read this fast, but you win!”
While I was romping on my pack of Gushers and sharing them with all the cute girls in my class, I noticed Ms. Smith looking at me with a concerned expression. Not paying much attention to it for the rest of the day, I was eager to tell my mom about the reading contest I won. Instead of being happy for me, she was concerned.
“I got a call from Ms. Smith today,” my mom said.
“Did she tell you about the contest I won in class??” I quickly asked.
“She did, but she told me that you’ve been reading things really close to your face,” she said. “She said I need to take you to the eye doctor for an eye exam.”
Already thinking about how cool I would look with a new pair of glasses, I exclaimed to my mom, “Sweet, now I can get glasses to look like Dad!”
The next day I got to miss class and go to the eye doctor. Entering a room full of adults well past their prime, they seemed shocked to see a 6-year-old getting his first eye exam. While everyone around me seemed rather concerned about my eyesight, I was eagerly prancing around Lenscrafters looking for the frames that would shape my first pair of glasses.
“Miguel,” the nurse said, “the doctor is ready to see you now.”
I followed the nurse and was instantly taken aback by all the tools that filled the room.
“Hey, Miguel,” the doctor said to me while adjusting the phoropter to my eyes. “I’m going to use this machine to help you read better from a farther distance. Can you read the letters on this chart for me please?”
I quickly started reading letter by letter as my vision became clearer with every lens that shifted in front of my eyes.
“Great job, Miguel,” the doctor said, “You’re all set. Now you can go out and pick out your new glasses.”
Wandering through the displays off glasses, I sought out to find the perfect pair. Seeing the marks that my dad’s glasses left on his face, I quickly stepped away from the glasses with plastic nose pads. After finding my spot in the kid’s section, I found the perfect pair of brown, square-shaped glasses that perfectly suited my style.
“Okay, sweetheart,” the nurse said, “You’ll have your glasses next week.”
Leaving the eye doctor’s office filled with excitement, I counted the days until I got to pick up my glasses with my mom. A week later, I was back at Lenscrafters to get them.
“Wow!” my mom exclaimed. “You look really handsome, honey.”
With my new glasses on, I strutted out of Lenscrafters with a newfound confidence and a new look.
The next day at school, my new glasses were the talk of the classroom. Everyone kept telling me how cool my glasses were, and all the girls in my class showered me with compliments about my new look.
“All right class, settle down,” Ms. Smith said. “Today is Wednesday so you know what time it is. It’s time for our reading competition. Let’s see how your new glasses help you, Miguel.”
Racking up tournament win after tournament win, I always looked back on how great it felt to not read so close to our sheet. Reading from a comfortable distance, I blasted my opponents with the entertaining rhyme scheme of “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.”
I’m sure one day my son or daughter will be sharing their tale of the very first pair of glasses.
