We have been going to the same eye doctors office for YEARS. So, when we walk in its always HEEYY! How are you doing? Wow! You kids are really growing up fast!
I remember my first time going to the Eye Doctor.
I was probably around 10 or 12.
We sat around in the waiting room as they called one person at a time into a room. What was in the room? I wasn't sure.
They went in, 5 minuets later, came out with tears rolling down their faces. They weren't crying, but they where stunned. One by one they all went in and came back out. Eventually it was my turn. I walked into the room that had 2 chairs and a desk with fancy equipment on it.
I did as the lady asked and put my face up against one of the 2 machines and stared at a light. "Can you see the red light?" She asked. "Yep!" I quickly replied. After she scribbled something down on paper, she moved me over to the next machine where I looked at this entrancing little green light with one eye. I stared at it and stared at it as a little arm came out of the machine, right next to my eye. Suddenly.. POOOF! A blast of air from the little arm smashes into my eye ball. I quickly react and jerk my head backwards. "AHH!... GOSH!"
The lady's just sitting over there chuckling
"NOW THE OTHER EYE"
"Uhhooookay."
I put my face up to the machine again. This time expecting the inevitable. "OPEN WIDE" she says.
Mentally screaming, I pry my eyes open and prepare myself... HERE IT COMES!... After what felt like forevePOOF "GAHH!" My head jerks back again and my eyes start to water.
"You can go back to the waiting room now." She says.
So this is why everybody's' eyes where watering... I thought.
I sat down for a little bit and after a few of my siblings where already called for by the doctor and came back, it was my turn. I walked into his dimly lit room and sat down in a big, comfy chair that had a bunch of fancy machines connected to it.
"So, how are you doing, Ben?"
"Good.. good..... How... How are you?"
"Alright! So, Ben, have you had any eye injury lately?"
"Nope... not really."
"Good! Ok, we are going to run a quick test. What do you see?" He opened up a book with a bunch of colored dots that made out a picture of a Moose.
"Uhhmm.. A Moose?"
"Good! That was just to see if you are color blind or not, which, you aren't. Aaaalright, now let me get this set up..."
he took the Phoropter and put it in front of my eyes.
"What leters can you read?" He said.
THIS IS THE TEST! I thought. I didn't think you could, but there was always the fear of failing the eye exam.
Looking at a screen with a bunch of letters getting smaller and smaller, I looked at the smallest letters and had to guess with 50% of them because I couldn't see them that well.
A Z W F R B D.....
"Good." He says.
After a few more tests he tells me:
"Alright Ben, I think you're going to need reading glasses!"
YESSS I thought. I kind of wanted glasses, but I didn't want to have to wear them all the time. So, to me, this seemed like the best of both worlds. (And no, I didn't cheat on my eye exam in any way so I would get reading glasses)
"Now, in a little bit I'm going to look at the inside of your eye. But to do that, your irises need to be really big. So, I'm going to give you these eye drops that will dilate them."
"OK!"
He took the drops and put it in one eye. I was blinking a lot because eye drops are always cold and you know, your eyes don't really like chemicals getting poured into them but it didn't really hurt and I wasn't really expecting it to.
"Hurry, let me get it in the other eye before the pain hits..."
PAIN?... HITS?.... You never said anything about paiGAH! Ow ow ow ow...
"Ok, all done... here's a tissue..."
Tears where once again, rolling down my face.
"Alright, I will see you in a little bit after your eyes dilate."
"Ok, thanks doctor."
I walked back to the waiting room with the rest of my family. After a while, things seemed really bright and blurry... and it kept getting brighter, and blurrier. After a while, the windows in the waiting room where too bright. I had to hide my eyes from the light like some sort of dungeon dwelling creature.
Eventually he called me back into his dimly lit room which wasn't so dark anymore with my irises so open. (I felt kinda like a super hero)
Then he had me put my chin on this machine and he had this super bright light that he shined directly into my eye ball. The tears, once again flowed down my face.
"Look down.." He said. I looked down and he had to pry my eyelid up with his finger.
Look down, look up, look left, look right.. Ok now other eye... yadda yadda.
By the end of all this tears where dripping off of my face and it felt like the light was literally burning.
"Ok! All good. Thanks!" he said.
I wiped the tears off my face, shook hands, and walked out.
