First Time with Prescription Glasses... Yowza! (1 Viewer)

[Holadem]

Is the world a beautiful place or what!

What's really strange is that I never knew I needed glasses until I put on my's friend's a couple of years ago. He just happened to have the same prescription I guess. I could NOT believe how amazingly clear and glossy everything looked. It is a total shock to realize that you have been living in a blurry universe for possibly your whole life, without knowing it.

I got my first pair 2 years ago, then promptly lost it. I didn't wear it for long, so I never really missed it, especially since the prescription wasn't really right that time.

Yesterday, I got new ones, and felt the same way as that first time all over again - they got it right this time. My vision isn't that bad, I can function without them, but still. The biggest shock this time around is the texture of things around me. I have been starring at the most mundane things, like my dell keyboard, noticing for the first time that the E and N keys for instance show more wear than the Q and Z keys. I can see that now without the glasses, but would have never noticed. The texture of people's skin is another big surprise, including my own. And colors are much more vibrant - lines and seperation between objects aren't clearly defined when I take them off, and that affects my perception of colors, the same way matting the black bars on a 4:3 set brings out the picture better.

Additionally, things in distance are now so clear, so many things now spring to three dimensional existence where everyting that was far enough was flat and blurry, that I have been experiencing what I could only describe as mini sensory overloads.

Now, I have seen some things that make me want to take them off and retreat to the safety of the blur: I saw some lady in the elevator today with very uneven make up. Some older lady I thougth was hot smiled to me in all her wrinkled glory... I now know what I look like when I go long enough without shaving .

Of course, I now look like a dork with the glasses, but I was reassured by everyone that I had always looked like one so all is well.

How did it feel the first time you put your spectacles on?

--
Holadem - I have to recalibrate my TV...

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

I got my first pair in the 5th grade, having never noticed a vision problem prior. Not so interesting story: we were at a New York Knicks game for my birthday (circa 1974) and my family was commenting about how the scoreboard on the opposite side of Madison Square Garden had some sections that weren't lit up properly. I kept insisting that there *wasn't* any scoreboard over there, just lights! Needless to say, my mother scheduled an eye exam the next day and I needed glasses for near-sightedness.

As you mentioned, everything becomes clearer and more textured, you never know how much you are missing.
Wait until you go and see a movie that's projected really well - now you'll see film grain! And you'll see how lousy DLP theatrical projection is!

 

[Shayne Lebrun]

I remember when I got glasses, I was just a wee kid, my first thought was 'you mean everybody else sees *like this?*

Get the perscription looked at every year or two; if your eyesight is gradually worsening, you won't really notice.

 

[David-S]

That's funny Peter, it's almost exactly how I got my glasses (3rd grade, "what license plate numbers"?)

Don't worry about the dork thing, sometimes it seems like everyone around me has glasses (of course, I'm in an engineering grad program, maybe we are all just dorks?!?! )

 

[Jassen M. West]

go for contacts,,glasses have a "rim" of blur, contacts are clear all the way into the peripheral vision. i love my contacts.

 

[Peter Kim]

Holadem - I have to recalibrate my TV...

I remember the first time as well...I could see the chalkboard in 6th grade for the first time from my seat. But in the late 70's, early 80's, the ridicule almost negated the benefit.

After wearing contacts for the last 17 years, I actually like wearing my glasses these days. Perhaps due to improved frame style (not much choice when your parents are paying) and less hassle with eyeglasses compared to contacts.

I've got a pair of titanium wire frames, coupled with high index 1.66 lenses, makes for a nearly imperceptible weight on my face...very comfortable.

Thinking about getting contacts, Holadem?

 

[Hunter P]

"Oh My Gawd! I'm a black man! And all this time I thought I was Irish."

 

[Holadem]

Thinking about getting contacts, Holadem?

Now way in hell I am letting anything touch my eyes. Plus I was told the glasses add 12 pts to my appearent IQ .

--
Holadem

 

[Philip Hamm]

Of course, I now look like a dork with the glasses, but I was reassured by everyone that I had always looked like one so all is well.

Having spent some quality time with you at Scooterfest last year, I concur with this assessment.

It's amazing isn't it. The think that freaked me out on the ride home from the shop with my first pair of glasses (at about 10 years old) was the leaves on the trees.

 

[AllanN]

I got mine in 10th grade so that was a major change. My vision is only 20/40. That is good since I broke my last pair almost two years ago. I’m waiting for my next free pair to come up in my vision plan before I get new ones. I’m sure ill have the same wow, look what I can see feeling right after I put them on, then back in there case they will go, tucked away in my truck just in case I get pulled over. I really don’t like wearing them and 99.9% of the time I don’t need them. I’ve tried contacts but for me it’s to much hassle and not enough payoff.

 

[Keith Mickunas]

The think that freaked me out on the ride home from the shop with my first pair of glasses (at about 10 years old) was the leaves on the trees.

I was about 15 or 16 when I got my first glasses, and leaves were the first thing I noticed. My vision wasn't too bad, but it was amazing how much detail was added to stuff at a long distance.

 

[Randy Tennison]

I was in 6th grade when I got glasses. I remember in 5th grade sitting in the back row, but always wanting to come down front to see the tv. Then my teacher recommended an eye exam.

I was so amazed on the drive home from Sears that I could read road signs as we drove. I read them all the way home.

I had the same reaction two years ago after my lasik. I was able to see the clock on the nightstand at night.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

'you mean everybody else sees *like this?*

Of course not! Who do you think still rents VHS tapes?

 

[Ted Lee]

i've always had bad eyesight, but until just a few years ago, i never really realized just how bad.

my trip to the optomitrist (sp?) went something like this.

opt: can you see this?
me: no.
opt: how about now?
me: no.
opt: how about now?
me: no.
opt: are you joking?
me: no.
opt: please remove the eyepatch

guess what i couldn't read....? one, big, solitary "E" on the wall. :rolleyes

after some more investigating, the opt told me i had one of the worst prescriptions he's ever seen: one near-sighted eye, one far-sighted eye, and stigmatism to boot.

anyway, when i finally got my prescription, i was floored. what really caught my attention were trees. i never realized how three-dimensional they were. the little "nooks and crannies" really stood out. i was amazed.

my girlfriend at the time was really worried...she was afraid i would see all her flaws. which i did, but they didn't bother me. i noticed freckles on peoples faces, i could clearly read street signs more then 1/3rd of a block away, and i didn't have to put magazines right up to my face anymore.

i was like, whoa...

ps - contacts aren't so bad. they're pretty much all i wear now. soft-lenses go in easy and don't feel uncomfortable at all. ask your opt for a trial pair - it won't cost you anything. they definitely come in handy when you're wearing sunglasses.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Glasses are okay, but if you ever muster the courage to put contact lenses in your eyes, you will have an ever more incredible reaction to your improved visual acuity that can't be replicated with glasses.

The 3-dimensionality of sight that I experienced the first time wearing contact lenses almost made me cry inside because the world of colors and shading and textures just exploded in front of me in such a way that was undeniable!

 

[Joe Szott]

Very best was when I finally decided to have PRK surgery (basically just like Lasic.)

The doctor lasered my eyes, they watered and were insanely blurry for 2 days, then wham! I had 20/10 vision, it was incredible. I felt like a hawk or eagle everything was so clear at distance. Since then it has slowly degraded back to 20/20 (pretty common occurance), but I am still amazed at the ability of modern science to improve our lives.

 

[Max Leung]

I really need a new prescription. I've had these nice glasses for 8 years now. But, I have an LCD projector, and I DON'T want to see screendoor!

Blah.

 

[Hunter P]

LASIK evangelist here.

I'm still amazed how crisp my vision is a year after surgery. As for contacts, there are some significant pros and cons.

You don't have to worry about developing those divots on the bridge of your nose. And the peripheral vision is better. Plus you can play sports without worry. But I don't miss the hassle of taking care of them. Nor do I miss when you get that one little particle (but feels like a boulder) under the contact scratching your eye. Especially torturous is when you get it during a time when you can't take out the contact to clean it.

 

[Evan S]

Holadem, I have seen some of the girls you hit on in the bars...all I have to say is it's about time you got them specs. I was thinking you needed them all along!

 

[Michelle Schmid]

I got my first pair of glasses in the first grade (what big red barn, mommy?--needless to say, I got my first eye exam at that time!). I remember seeing the leaves on the trees for the first time as well. Amazing.

Then in the seventh grade I got contacts. Oh, my God, you mean the grass has individual blades?!! It isn't just one big green carpet? WOW!

Then, after 18 years of contacts I had Lasik. Best thing I've ever done for myself. It's been almost three years since then and I am still amazed every single day. Colors, textures, everything! And yes--I recalibrated my TV, too!