Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Paradox and Inspiration 167: Oddity at Owndays

It was about 9pm when I picked up my progressive reading glasses at Owndays, Jurong Point. The girl at the counter handed over my glasses and advised that I would have to learn how to use them. I was surprised to be told that I should move my eye balls and not my head when focusing on something, and was even more surprised to find everything looked blur when I put on the new glasses. Near or far, everything looked blur. The optician came after a long wait. Upon checking my eyesight he said the glasses were blurry for me because I had short-sightedness on my left eye and was puzzled why I was given no prescription. Then, I explained I was not myopic and the optician who checked my vision about 2 weeks ago also confirmed that I was able to see far perfectly well. He kept asking me who checked my vision and hinted I had been given the wrong glasses, and subsequently put me through a series of tests to convince my that I had both short-sightedness and long-sightedness. In the midst of it, I kept pursuing "How bad is my short-sightedness?" but he just kept quiet. "So exactly, how bad is my short-sightedness, why can't you tell me!" I asked for the third time. My patience was tested.

Optician: 50 degrees on the left eye
Me: Oh, only 50 degrees, then why can't I just take this pair?
Optician: You try covering your left eye and look far, and then try covering the right eye and look far. You will know the difference.
Me: But I see with both my eyes, not one at a time.
Optician: That's true..... Well you just imagine, if your right eye has perfect vision and your left eye is 300 degrees, you will have a big problem focusing.
Me: But mine is 50 degrees, not 300 degrees.
Optician: True.

In a few seconds, he was quick to come up with another solution.

Optician: I think you can still try using these glasses. But you need to learn how to use progressive lens. I will teach you... Move your head and not your eyes.
Me: This is opposite of what the girl at the counter told me.
Optician: Oh it must be a new staff!

Goodness.