Getting a read on my eyesight

To see, or not to see;
That is the question.
Whether ‘tis nobler with contact lenses to see clearly for distance for those long drives with wife, Jane;
Or  to take up reading glasses to better see more closely for my computer and iPhone.

It is a Hamlet-like dilemma for Baby Boomers as we age and as our eyesight worsens. It starts to become an either-or world of being able to see far away or being able to see close up.

I want the best of both worlds. I want the convenience of contact lenses. I want to be able to see with 20-20 clarity far into the distance for driving. I want to see with equal clarity for close up work, such as writing on my computer, checking for messages on my iPhone, or reading recipes in my kitchen.

My most recent eye exam revealed no surprises - my distance vision has eroded from the last time.

I’m not ready to give in to a life of glasses only. My vanity won’t allow that yet. So I insist on wearing contact lenses.

But the eye doc, who was very thorough, said I can’t have it both ways with contacts: Perfect vision for both distance and up close. Compromises have to be made, I can’t have the best of both worlds.

If I want absolute clarity for distance, I trade clarity for up close, requiring the use of reading glasses.

Given that my wife and I travel a fair amount, usually by driving, and given that I’d like to be able to track the flight of my golf ball, I decided to try a pair of distance-only contacts.

That meant great things for driving and golf, not so great for reading. It meant the need for readers: Readers for reading, readers for working on the computer, readers for cooking, readers for the newspaper, readers for even taking the phone out of my pocket to check messages.

The experience left me worried that I would find myself in a situation where I needed readers, but that I would forget to bring them along. Part of this aging process is the being forgetful part - the “I can’t find my glasses; they’re on top of your head” part.

And that left me with the thought that I would have to plant spare readers in all the places where I think I’ll need them.

Just as John Chapman spread appleseeds through the midwest in the late 18th century/early 19th century, I saw myself sprinkling readers at various locations - the office where I occasionally do some work and at the restaurants and bars I frequent.

On a follow-up visit to the eye doc we decided I’d have to compromise -- take a little off the distance end to accommodate the reading end.

The fact of the matter - the fact of the aging process - is that I need to use reading glasses more often. But we found a happy medium where by I can see distance (at least well enough to pass the eye exam to review a driver’s license), and I don’t need readers for most of the close-up work.

The best of both worlds. At least as far as I can see.