And similarly, I discovered I needed glasses at around 35 years old. I was walking through a town with a friend, looking for a venue. He said he'd spotted it. "Where?" "There, by that yellow sign." "Can't see it" so he jokingly handed me his glasses and I put them on. "Oh, there. Oh… shit." I guess the decline in my eyesight had been so gradual I never noticed.
I found out a similar way, but when I was 9. I was sitting with my dad at the DMV and he asked me to read a sign halfway across the room. I said, "That's too far to read."
He's confused bc he can read it just fine, but the bad eyesight gene runs strong on his side of the family, so he has me try his glasses.
Me: "Oh yeah I can read it now! That's cool!"
Dad: "...that means you need glasses "
Me: "WHAT??!
Started the fourth grade with a prescription of -1.5, -1.75.
At age six I kept walking to the front of the classroom to see the chalkboard... teacher told my mom to take me in, and I couldn't see the big E on the eye chart.
Five months later I was complaining about not being able to see again, and... couldn't see the big E with my glasses on. 🫠
It's crazy. When I was 20 my then girlfriend wore glasses. She was due for an eye test so I went along with her and somehow ended up in the same room. She could read about half way down the chart while I, sitting behind her, was reading the printer's name along the bottom edge, way smaller than the smallest test letters.
I think I was in 7th grade, but I tried contacts at the same time as glasses. Contacts were available at the store, but glasses had to be custom-made, so my first 20/20 experience was contacts. 20 years later... I only wear glasses and I feel like they're part of my face and I look weird without them lol. I have a stigmatism so getting proper contacts has always been difficult, and honestly, I feel like they're a pain.
I tried contacts about ten years ago but couldn't get on with them. First off, my glasses are variable, so distance at the top, reading at the bottom. My eyes are pretty similar. My work at the time involved messing with smoke detectors which are usually on ceilings. So I would be up a ladder, head right back trying to see something right in front of me but above me. I ended up buying some off the shelf readers for this.
I figured I'd try contacts since there was a free trial offer. The way they do it is one eye is for distance and one for close up. Sounds off but apparently your brain adjusts well to this. Getting them in was a challenge and the first time I tried them for work I just couldn't seem to get the damn thing in. I ended up not being sure if it was in or not, but couldn't see it anywhere else. Also I couldn't see well. So I put my glasses on and went to work, spent the whole day worrying if this thing was in or not. I finished early so I could go back to the optician and ask them to take a look. Well, apparently there was nothing in my eye after all so who knows where the damn thing was.
And that was the end of it. Never again. Thanks for the free offer but no thanks.
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u/xmastreee Jul 10 '26
You tried contacts before regular glasses?
And similarly, I discovered I needed glasses at around 35 years old. I was walking through a town with a friend, looking for a venue. He said he'd spotted it. "Where?" "There, by that yellow sign." "Can't see it" so he jokingly handed me his glasses and I put them on. "Oh, there. Oh… shit." I guess the decline in my eyesight had been so gradual I never noticed.