If the saying’s true that men don’t make passes at girls who wear glasses, I’m doomed. Okay, I’ll be honest. I haven’t had to worry about passes for a while. But I’m now an official wearer of glasses.
I didn’t realize how bad my eyes were until I couldn’t pass the eye exam at the BMV to renew my driver’s license, not even with the reading glasses my eye doctor prescribed a year ago. I put them on and bombed. Now, I can wear those glasses and read the computer and my Kindle, but small print on labels and in magazines has gotten tinier and blurrier. I can see street signs and directions, so I thought I was okay. But I was wrong. I couldn’t even read the top line of the license branch’s machine.
The girl who tested me did everything she could to try to help me pass. She said, “Close your right eye and read the line.” No good. “Close your left eye.” No good. Which surprised me, because one of my eyes (I’m not sure which one) is 20/20. She asked, “Do you have any stronger reading glasses?” As a matter of fact, I do. I tried those. Everything went impressionistic– suggestions of letters and lines. . She told me that some people have trouble with the way the machine is set up, back lit and built to test your sight for distance.
I ordered glasses that were supposed to fix blue ray and tried again. Failed worse than before. I only saw sticks. I went back to my eye doctor. This time, he said my weak eye had gotten worse and ordered new glasses for me. I’m going to try again next week when my eyes have gotten used to the new strength of lenses. He said it would take a minute. But I’m a little worried. When I put on my new glasses to work on the computer, I can’t see anything clearly. When I switch to my old pair of glasses, everything’s clear. But I’m not ready to give up. So I’ll wear my new glasses all of the time, not just for reading, and hope my eyes adjust to them.
If that fails, I have to send in information from my eye doctor to the state license bureau for people who flunk eye tests. The girl at the BMV told me that most people get okayed when their eye doctor tells them the patient can see, just not with their machine. Wish me luck.
The good news? I can see plenty well enough to read and write. Which makes me scratch my head, but I’m thankful for that.
Judi Lynn 
good luck with all of it, my eyes have definitely gotten worse over the years
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Beth. I’m going to need the luck!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I need to budget a trip to the eye doctor myself. I have reading, computer, and distance correction, but tri-vocals just don’t work for me. I have two pair and each has a reading bifocal lens.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Take both pairs when you go to get your next license. And good luck. I took three pairs and none of them helped me with the machine.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ugh! Now you have me thinking. I’ll need to renew my license next year. Maybe a trip to the eye doctor first. I read over-the-counter glasses for reading and the computer, but I do have some blurriness from floaters. (I had a detached retina in one eye and a torn one in the other a few years back.)
Wishing you luck when you return to the DMV.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks. And good luck when you go to get your license renewed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I wear trifocals and can’t see well out of any of the… focals. I barely passed the test at the DMV. I feel your pain, Judi. I hope you get used to your new glasses. Or get the note from the doctor.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Staci. Trifocals would be a challenge for me. I hope your driver’s license is for a long time and you don’t have to worry about your next eye test at the BMV.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, how unusual. I wear glasses all the time (had to start doing that about four years ago). Like you have a weak eye. I’m near-sighted in one and far-sighted in the other, but I can’t see up close without glasses.
Even stranger, I don’t ever recall taking a vision test to renew my driver’s license. I had to do one at sixteen for my initial license, and I do know that eye doctors have to report to the State anyone who fails the vision test they give (for driving), but it’s never been done at the DMV, and isn’t a requirement to renew. It really should be in all states.
I hope things work out for you, Judi!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Having an eye doctor report about unsafe drivers is smart, but I guess Indiana does it at the BMV because not everyone goes to an eye doctor. Still, I’m going for an eye test at my license branch for the fourth time next week to try again. Whatever they’re doing is too strict because I don’t have any problem driving. BTW, I’ve never known anyone who’s near-sighted in one eye and far-sighted in the other. I always thought you were unique:)
LikeLike
I’ve had glasses since I was a kid, though I just had to get progressive lenses. It was great for me, since I can finally stop lowering my glasses to read close things. :0
LikeLiked by 1 person
Awesome! It’s nice to be able to see well!
LikeLike
The reason I travel across 2 states to my eye doc is because he’s a wizard. I’ve thrown out so many unworkable glasses and tired of the waste. I knew of my present eye MD as a big band conductor and through the theater in Dubuque, IA. When I told a friend my problem of having to choose between seeing the conductor and reading the music, she said I already knew the best eye doc. He fixed me up after a few minutes of testing, and when I got the glasses, I prepared myself for the dizzy blurred thing until I got used to them. Hah! Put them on and they were perfect. Won’t go to anyone else and don’t care that I have to travel hundreds of miles.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hope these new glasses work. I’m going to try the test again tomorrow. Wish me luck.
LikeLike