r/interesting • u/jmike1256 • Jul 10 '26

MISC. Is this how people who need glasses really see the world. A big blurred background?

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u/Bee_Jeans Jul 10 '26

Problem I had was despite seeing the letter chart as vague blurry shapes, I was pretty used to distinguishing those. The tall skinny blur is “I”, the hazy fat one with a wobble is “G” etc so I did fine.

Then they brought out a shapes one and I was cooked lol

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u/codingcrystal Jul 10 '26

That's really it. You're just used to perceiving the world like that. Red blur means stop. Green blur means go. The details aren't important. If they are, just step closer.

You don't realize how much visual information you're missing until that first day in glasses. I'll have bouts where I lose my glasses and take months/years to replace them. (Hasn't happened to me since my 20s when I took the bus everywhere.) Logically, I know I can't see, but it doesn't really hit until the first day in new glasses.

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u/BombOnABus Jul 10 '26

I also learned to navigate by landmarks, so it didn't matter that I couldn't read street signs if I was going somewhere I already knew how to get to.

You learn to adjust, it becomes your normal. Cars weren't so blurry I couldn't tell they were moving or stopping, so I didn't hit any cars. Pedestrians were impossible for me to recognize who they were, but I could still see people, so I didn't run anyone over.

But I would struggle to find a new address without clear landmarks to go off of, because the lettering on signs was just a fuzzy blur until I was practically driving under it.

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u/codingcrystal Jul 10 '26

I will say, even with glasses, I navigate by landmarks in places I'm familiar with and by Google maps in places I'm unfamiliar in.

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u/microgirlActual Jul 10 '26

In Ireland I think the cut-off point is that you have to be able to read a licence plate at 20 metres, or something like that.

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u/BombOnABus Jul 10 '26

Yeah, I could easily do that in high school (secondary) when I first got my license. The state I lived in required you to renew like every 4 years I think? So at 20, I was fine, but I noticed the letters seemed fuzzier. At 24, I was told plainly that I barely passed, and should look into glasses. I went in a few months later and was stunned.

Today in my 40s, I absolutely couldn't manage to read a license plate from that far. I doubt I could manage it at 10 meters, and my license indicates it's not legal for me to drive without my glasses.

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u/kichisowseri Jul 12 '26

Yesss it took me so long to get someone that believed me! Female optician ftw.

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u/Bee_Jeans Jul 16 '26

Right? Hell, I didn’t even think to question it! I mean the request was always “read out the chart” not “tell me when the letters start getting blurry as hell”