I recently made a purchase I’ve been resisting for some time. Why was I resisting? It meant admitting I had a problem. I was confirming the inevitable. Truth be know, I can no longer ‘manage‘ without my glasses. Aging is like being that slow driver in the fast lane. You know, like when someone ‘s suddenly right there, in the rearview, tailgating. I had to ask myself, “when did that happen?”
Say “hello” to my little friend.
The days of ‘forgetting’ my reading glasses at home, but still managing to read a menu at the restaurant or labels at the market are long gone. Do you remember singing this song on school bus trips? Every kid took a turn making up a verse:
“There’s bananas, bananas wearing pink pajamas in the store, in the store.
There’s bananas, bananas wearing pink pajamas in the Corner Master’s store.
My eyes are dim, I can not see,
I have not brought my specs with me.
I have not brought my specs with me.”
It continues around the bus with the likes of “dogs, dogs chasing after frogs” or “kittens, kittens wearing yellow mittens”. Well, you get the picture. The point I was going to make (yes I do have one) was how ironic it is that, as kids, they teach you these fun little diddy’s about ‘dim eyes’ then before your aging brain even forgets the song, shazam….you infact have ‘dim eyes’. What a cruel and strange sense of humor those teacher’s had. Were they having a secret giggle about the inevitable future of their charges?
Luckily, corrective eyewear, dare I say it, has gotten very stylish. I almost look forward to getting a new pair every now and again. The once nerdy black rimmed glasses look hot:
With the right glasses, you can even rock the ‘librarian’ look.
No one can sidestep the aging process. Oh, there are those who will try, but then you’ll see them actually ‘walk‘ on stage. Suddenly, all the smoke and mirrors can’t hide the fact that they are, just like everyone else, getting older.
What’s MY plan of attack? Remember to wear my glasses, maintain a healthy dose of denial and remain young at heart. Really, what else can you do?
photo credits:
Joan Rivers-David Shankbone via Wikipedia
The Mentalist – Fanpop.com
Librarian – tvtropes.com
You make me laugh in a good way. Needed that. Just catching up on my e-mail so I’m a little behind. Wish the behind was little. Unpacked my lighted magnifier yesterday and the base is in another box. When the two come together, I can sew again! I’ve always been a member of the nearly blind club but I swear to you know who, that the morning of my 40th birthday, my vision changed and I needed bifocal contact lenses. That was a looong time ago. Wish I could wear the contacts now but I can’t blink anymore. Back to the girl in glasses.
LikeLike
haha, you make me laugh too, a little behind, you’re preaching to the choir there. Sorry I’m tardy on replying…I seemed to have missed this messsage. I too have blended lenses. I’ve never tried to do the contacts, I can’t even put in eyedrops in without blinking. It all seems to go to hell in a handbasket after a certain age doesn’t it. I takes me twice as long to get ready, since there’s soooo much more to do. By the time I’m 60, I’ll have to start getting ready the day before. Well, hang in there and stay young at heart.
LikeLike
What a funny little gong! I’ve never heard it before. But I did hear over and over that “boys make passes at girls who wear glasses.”
LikeLike
Ya, the 60’s were trippy. I’m sure there’s an infinite number of versus depending on how creative you want to get (good for those extra long field trips)….there are beans beans wearing stone wash jeans, there are cats cats wearing purple hats….OMG we were weird kids.
LikeLike
I love this post and all the great comments that followed. I spent five minutes this morning experimenting with light and arms length so I could decipher the “use by” date on my Chobani. Curses, old age. I like your motto!
They had a wall mounted mirror similar to this at our hotel this weekend. Once I accepted the fact that no, my eyelashes really aren’t that long, I appreciated the fact that the mascara actually made it to the right place.
LikeLike
aww, thanks for that nice compliment Alys. I laughed at your ‘use by’ dilemma, I’m always trying to avoid looking for my glasses by willing my eyes to see the small print. I’ve even asked Mr B. “what does this say? I hate telling him I don’t know where my glasses are because then I get a story about how HE puts his in the same place all the time and knows exactly where they are..yadda yadda. I can only imagine what my makeup looked like before ‘my little friend’ because now I see all the craziness…dough.
LikeLike
LOL! You’ll get no lectures from me, my dear.
A friend’s mom recently gave me a lighted magnifying glass. It’s my new best friend!
LikeLike
We;come to the four-eyed world????
LikeLike
ha, I guess it’s a little easier than girls glasses in the 50’s, although those frames are popping up everywhere. I guess I’ll never finish that cross stitch I started 20 years ago. LOL
LikeLike
Man, this post really tugs at emotions that I’ve bottled up for years. I wore glasses for most of my childhood (and I still wear them today) and I must say- I was unintentionally going for the librarian look a decade before the rage, though the near-sided bit is still a mess. Love this bit though, really. Kudos
LikeLike
Thanks for your generous comment. I am the last to follow any ‘rage’. Hey maybe you’re a reluctant ‘trend setter’. ?? Besides, girls really dig the ‘smart guy’ look, so that really is in your favor. I’m working on wearing them all the time….I’m tired of looking for my glasses. They’re never where I think I left them.
LikeLike
As someone who just got his first pair of glasses, this post hit home! Remember to wear my glasses, maintain a healthy dose of denial and remain young at heart” is a motto I can definitely support.
LikeLike
Well I know for sure pets do keep you young at heart, I hear Mr B chatting up Blossom all the time, she is totally a ‘daddies girls’. It’s pretty hard to decide on a style when you’re in the store, so congrats on your new pair!
LikeLike
I have worn glasses almost my whole life. However, I had a big change this year as well. My first glasses with progressive lenses. Glad that we have them today and not the old bi-focal lenses :-). No one needs to know that I have the little bit of extra power for reading.
LikeLike
I love these progressive lenses for that (mine are too). Progressive, transition, scratch resistant…the whole 9 yards…I wish I could have a couple of styles but they’re too darn expensive. Thanks for coming by and hey, you have a new Gravatar, I can see it with my glasses on, ha
LikeLike
Totally have a wall mounted zoom in mirror too! Can’t live without it these days! And the glasses…. well, I figure they make me look smarter, so why not get a bunch and coordinate them with my outfits!
LikeLike
hehe, I never thought of that. I do know that Simon Baker fella looks hot hot hot in those brainiac glasses, so looking Smart and Hot can only be a win-win
LikeLike