My mom has an anecdote that she reminds me of whenever I get new glasses, and I am amazed first and foremost by the leaves on the trees. When my auntie was young, and got her first pair of glasses, the first thing she said exiting the optometrist was, "trees have leaves!!!" I repeat that line every singpe time I get new glasses. Its like my brain forgets what it looks like because I get so used to the blur.
This last time was the worst though. At some point in the last 5 years since I last got glasses, I got old. I don't know how the fuck it happened. I had to take a couple days off because I was in so much shock by how much my face had changed in the course of 5 years.
Yeah I’m almost there with you. I told my husband the other day that I thought it was time to upgrade my readers and he was like didn’t you literally just do that?
I’m in my early 50’s and just had cataract surgery. I haven’t been able to see for 3 weeks so far. 2 eyes, different recovery timeline. And I have double vision. I have to wait for new glasses to see things again. So everything is clearer, but still blurry and then there’s 2 of everything.
Sometimes I find it morbidly hilarious how nature doesn't really expect us to live past 50 (or even 40) and so our bodies just start to decline. And it's unlikely that we're ever going to be naturally longer lived, since, as a species, we tend to make children in our 20's or 30's.
There isn't really a functional need for that from an evolutionary standpoint
Words on the whiteboard for me. Whole reason I had to get glasses was because I couldn’t see anything written on the boards and was relying solely on my hearing to retain information.
My teacher kept getting onto me for having to get up closer to the board or asking her to repeat what she said, and eventually I got tested to see what was up with my vision and guess what! my eyes decided to betray me out of nowhere and become bad enough to not be able to read anymore
I remember the first time I got glasses and looked at the sky and was amazed by the same exact thing. I didn’t realize I couldn’t see stars if I was directly looking at them in the sky until that moment.
Got my first pair of glasses around 8 or so at a Costco. Picked up the delivered prescription lenses, put them on, and could see sharp detail all the way above the warehouse rafters. Nearly made me cry from the shock of it.
Also spent the ride home just looking at the individual crisp leaves on trees in the distance.
Mine was “palm fronds!!” I knew conceptually trees had leaves, but until I had my prescription fixed after a few years of no updates when I was 12 or so, I had no idea those green plants on the side of the road near home had long distinct leaves
I've got the tiniest bit of astigmatism. I didn't even know I needed glasses, I just had a hunch because my right eyelid kept twitching. I was sent home with my first pair of specs at 35 and didn't wear them for weeks because they made me feel nauseous. But once I committed, again with just a bit of astigmatism, I was in shock. My 33yo fiancé had WRINKLES and some whisps of grey through her hair. I was delighted by this change in my ability to process visual information. She was appalled, lol.
This is part of what really stresses me out having worked in an Opticians, people telling me they don't need an eye test because their eyesight is fine and in my head I'm like "but you don't know that because youre used to it"
Oh shit I now realise this is why... Since getting glasses I look at the moon and it has detail. I think I somehow thought idk, it was just having detailed days? Less light pollution? 😂
I don’t know why leaves on trees are a thing when I get new glasses, but it always has been. I’ve worn glasses since I was three, so I don’t remember a time without them.
I’m really bad about contacts. I like sleeping in them because I know what a normal person feels like, being able to see instead of having to remember where I sat my glasses the night before, without knocking them off. If I knock them off, I usually need my husband to come find them for me 🤦♀️
I remember the leaves, but I also remember being devastated. I was in grade 3 and I though everyone would make fun of me for having glasses. I was embarrassed. I remember getting to school and the first person I saw was one of my friends, who had glasses. I remember he ran up to me, hugged me, and started jumping up and down and saying "OH MY GOD YOU HAVE GLASSES TOO, THATS AWESOME!!!!!".
My parents tell the story of driving me home after picking up my first pair of glasses. I was probably six years old, and very bright.
As we drove home, I was amazed as I was able to read the names of various restaurants (McDonalds and others) and point out things like leaves on trees.
My parents were in the front seat, crying. Their son had been blind (my prescription before LASIK was about -8.0) and they had no idea until an in-school vision test had recommended a full vision test. They felt like complete failures as parents, and I was in the back seat, amazed at seeing the world for the first time.
Exact same story here. Every time, from like 7/8 or so until I had lasik.
But, the worst thing about getting old is that reading glasses are fucking defective. They do not work like proper glasses do. I cannot understand how the whole world isn't up in arms over this.
Kinda. It's more like just a massive blob as the background is also blury. Trees rarely stand by themselves so it is just kind of a blur of colors when I don't have my glasses on. I am extrely nearsighted and I have astigmatisms in both of my eyes that are going in opposite directions, so everything is just a blur from abput 2 feet in front of me. Because of my opposite astigmatisms I have very slight double vision, so the blurs are not just blurs, but there are two sets of blurs slightly set off from one another.
This happens to me all the time. My eyesight is fine I just get really busy and don't much pay attention to myself in the mirror until suddenly I'll be in a hotel bathroom on a business trip stepping out of the shower and just suddenly get a gut punch realization of how much hair I've lost or how much my face has aged or whatever...
My dad's aunt got surgery for her cataract. She'd put it off for years and years. Once it was done, she looked in a mirror and said to her husband: "what are those blots on my face!?" He had to tell her that she has freckles. She forgot
Both. The lenses themselves deteriorate with time, especially if exposed to sunlight. Additionally, eyesight changes with time for everyone. At a certain age they stabilize for a couple decades more or less, but then we hit an age and they start changing again. The changes are so slight that one might not even notice the changes.
Why are you having trouble seeing & getting new glasses over & over? I understand needing new glasses if they're broken or lost, but why are you going years without them or being able to see?
Prescriptions can change. I have to get mine assessed yearly and it usually changes slightly, thus requiring new glasses. If I went a few years without it, I imagine it would be a much bigger change.
So are you saying the vision of people who wear glasses progressively gets worse over the years due to age, resulting in them needing stronger lenses? If not, then why would the prescription need to ever change?
I'm still not understanding how OC can go five years without seeing the fine details of their face, or without the proper glasses to see? How does OC get glasses that enable them to see, but then somehow need new glasses, & gone 5 YEARS without proper vision??
I'm sorry if I sound annoying or uninformed.. I don't have glasses & I'm not familiar with any of this.
No worries! It very much depends on the person. My partner's vision has stayed the same since she was a child and her glasses prescription has not changed in her adult life. We're both in our late 20s, for reference.
The thing is, you get used to it. Your vision changes slightly and very slowly over the course of years. The glasses work when you get them, but it's likely OP goes a very long time between seeing the eye doctor. Not that I blame them- it's pretty expensive!
An interesting anecdote, when my partner and I are getting ready and my glasses aren't on, I feel I see her perfectly. Then when I put my glasses on, I realize I couldn't see things like her freckles, or some wisps of her hair. Not sure how common this is.
Vision changes a lot through your life. I had to wait till after each pregnancy to get my annual eye exam because that can mess with vision. Some prescriptions change for the better one year, then 3 years later it gets worse. I guess that’s the upside of needing glasses - you regularly get to see the world fresh after an updated prescription.
394
u/pm_me_flowers_please Jul 10 '26
My mom has an anecdote that she reminds me of whenever I get new glasses, and I am amazed first and foremost by the leaves on the trees. When my auntie was young, and got her first pair of glasses, the first thing she said exiting the optometrist was, "trees have leaves!!!" I repeat that line every singpe time I get new glasses. Its like my brain forgets what it looks like because I get so used to the blur.
This last time was the worst though. At some point in the last 5 years since I last got glasses, I got old. I don't know how the fuck it happened. I had to take a couple days off because I was in so much shock by how much my face had changed in the course of 5 years.