Article March 21, 2011 Issue

Corrective vision

By Walter Rodgers

My friend was sobbing over the telephone. “I’m going blind,” she said. On the face of it, her prognosis seemed daunting. She has an elderly husband for whom she has to care, and she needs to be able to drive a car. I tried to comfort her, but it seemed to little avail.

A few days later I telephoned back to inquire how she was doing, and found her laughing and her normal self. She then proceeded to tell me she had gone to the optometrist, who’d examined her and asked, “Let me see your glasses.” 

Studying the lenses, he said, “These are the wrong glasses. They’re not yours, they’re your husband’s.” In addition to being more than a little humorous, the mistake was quite instructive. 