The Fashionista Syndrome

It is everywhere! Everyone likes to look nice, sometimes even more than they want to see well.
We have been noticing a trend in the eyeglass clinic. There are certain people -- you can often tell who they will be by how they are dressed and the accessories they carry -- who will be able to see just fine with a prescription in the trial lens frame, but when you bring that prescription in a pair of glasses which are maybe a bit out of style, "I can't see anything" or "I see all black," they say! What they are actually saying is that they don't like the style of those glasses!

Today a woman came to me who had broken her glasses in the earthquake. She had come early in February to replace her glasses. She barely needs glasses -- her prescription is quite low and we don't have many glasses in her strength that don't also have a fairly strong bifocal or astigmatism that she did not need. Thankfully I was able to find her a pair of glasses that she could see well with and that were small and fashionable. But they weren't perfect so, she came back today to exchange them. I had no more glasses in that prescription and so I showed her selection of glasses that were very close. Again, I don't have a large variety of glasses in that strength, so her choices were limited. She wasn't impressed with what I had to offer.

It took a while to convince her that the glasses I had out were really the only ones I had. I did have others, but they had not been stylish since the 1980's (she agreed that she didn't want them) or they had bifocals (after insisting that she could manage with the cute pair with bifocals, she realized she couldn't) or an astigmatism. So, she finally found a pair of the ones I had out for her that she thought she could wear.

The classic comment that she made towards the end of the process was, "But I have seen so many pairs of pretty glasses that have come from this eyeglass clinic!" I have heard that before. Two people come to the clinic together and one just needs reading glasses in a strength that I have lots of styles available. The friend needs bifocals or has different prescriptions for each eye and has a limited selection of what will work for him or her and they don't like the style of any of them. But they will say, "can't you just give me a pair like my friend's?" And it is so hard to say no! One girl brought a pair of glasses back (the only one I had that was even close to what she needed) saying that her mother had told her not to like them! And she wanted me to give her something more fashionable, even though I had already explained to her that I only had the one pair in her prescription. Thankfully she did not need glasses badly, because she left without glasses. Even in fitting people with eyeglasses, I am still teaching science -- both physics and biology some days!

Not every person who comes to the clinic has the fashionista syndrome. I have had some folks who, when presented with the choice of reading glass styles will say, "I'll take whatever you give me. It doesn't matter what they look like, as long as I can see!" It is hard to convince those people that they can see well and look nice at the same time! But the greatest joy is when someone comes in with a real need for glasses and we find just what they need in a style they like and that suits their face. That is satisfaction.

Since the earthquake the clinic has been even busier. Becky and I see a minimum of 5 people each Wednesday. This last Wednesday we saw 8 and sometimes, like today, I make extra appointments for people. Each week there is at least one person who has come back to the area from Port-au-Prince. This Wednesday, a former student, Mimose came to replace the glasses lost in the quake and for her and her son to be treated for dry eyes irritated by the dry weather and the dust in Port. She had injured her right hand in the quake -- I didn't ask if it was broken or just badly bruised or what. But Wednesday, her hand was still swollen and the skin peeling.

The eyeglass clinic has become a real joy for me. I enjoy seeing people from all over the area and I believe we are providing a needed service. I find satisfaction in learning to do it well. I am grateful for the tools and glasses that have been donated by so many and for the knowledge that has been passed on so freely. Thank you for your prayers for Becky and me for wisdom, patience and compassion as we strive to help people see with their physical eyes. And help us also to shine the light of Christ in all we do, so that people's spiritual eyes can see Him as well.