Sandwiched
Back in the 70s and 80s, American Express liked to remind us to “don’t leave home without it” – their credit card, that is. As a middle-aged woman, I’ve changed this saying to “don’t leave home without THEM.” I’m talking about reading glasses!
I began wearing regular glasses when I was nine and my eyesight steadily worsened. At one point, I was concerned at how quickly my glasses turned into Coke bottles! You’ve heard all the jokes about using glasses with thick lenses to burn ants? Yep, that’s the kind I had and have to this day (but I don’t use them to harm insects).
Thankfully I got contact lenses my senior year in high school and my prescription leveled off. Soon I only needed my glasses for a few minutes before bedtime.
Then I entered my 40s and quickly began to understand why my dad grumbled so much about the small print on bottles, labels, etc. I watched my husband John try out bifocal contacts as well as having one prescription in one eye for reading/nearness and the other for long distance. He quickly gave up and switched to bifocal glasses.
I am NOT going back to wearing thick ugly (in my case) glasses again. And I sure as heck won’t wear the funky contacts. Just thinking about it makes me dizzy.
Nope, I’ve been using reading glasses along with my contacts for about five years now and am just fine, thank you very much. Like a lot of middle-agers, I have pairs in the house and one in my purse at all times.
I know some people don’t like the hassle of reading glasses, but I actually enjoy them! First of all, they remind me of my dad. I loved seeing him wear reading glasses to read the newspaper every evening or work at his desk. They made him look handsome.
Second, they’re NOT the Coke bottles I grew up wearing. They come in so many cute styles and colors! I consider them to be part of my personal fashion statement.
Third, they’re cheap and available everywhere. I’ve not actually lost or broken a pair yet, but if I do, it’ll be nice to know I haven’t thrown hundreds of dollars out the window.
The only problem is the rare situation where I don’t have a pair with me. But to solve this issue (pre-COVID) it never takes me long to find someone nearby who can loan me a pair! In fact, during our monthly get-togethers with friends, it’s not uncommon to see at least half of us wearing our reading glasses as we peruse menus.
Reading glasses – just another handy tool to help us navigate the sandwich generation. But DON’T leave home without them!