Eye Glasses I Can't See

Pic: Nonqaba waka Msimang.

I need my glasses for reading. I need to read because I write. I use a computer so I need to see images on the screen.

Quite frankly, I cannot imagine life without my glasses. I don’t think about it most of the time because they are there, on the desk, table or my face. I only think how lucky I am when people in a public place ask me to read something for them.

I used to oblige them but wonder why they don’t wear glasses if their vision is weak. We are at home with this COVID-19 problem, so we do things we don’t like doing, like going through paperwork which goes as far back as 2017.

Bills from my eye doctor were a rude reminder why people who need glasses don’t wear them. They don’t come cheap. If you wear glasses, you know there are prior things that must be done before you get your glasses.

What is wrong with your eyes? Tests must be done and that costs money. I found a bill for $150 for eye testing among old papers in the desk drawers. The eye doctor’s examination indicated that I need a new prescription. Please note that testing might cost more, depending on your country and optometrist.

New glasses. An old bill shows $939 for the frames I chose. Apparently, I didn’t have the whole amount so I pulled $200 from my credit card for the deposit, so that the eye doctor could start putting the new prescription on the new glasses.

I’m very happy with my glasses but these old bills are a wake-up call, that what I take for granted -testing my eyes regularly- is a luxury. Other people cannot afford glasses period. That is why they squint when they read something. That might cost them their house and other possessions, because most contracts have ‘fine print’ to rob consumers.

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.