After graduating from school, I went on to take a course to become a licensed Optician. Most optical shops and many jurisdictions these days do not require all of their employee’s to be licensed and in many areas, you can get a job in an optical store with very little training. Generally, there is a licensed optician on staff, and there can be 3 or 4 trainees at the store. I had been diagnosed as being quite nearsighted as a young child at the pediatric hospital down the street and the optical store I wanted to work at was the place where I had gotten my first glasses, as well as every pair of glasses I had worn since then, The owner of the store would not hire anyone unless they were a fully licensed optician so I had to complete all my schooling before he would take me on as a trainee. My name is Becky Lee and I was almost 24 when I first started working for Barry Gilbride, the owner of “I See Optical”. Mr. Gilbride was gay, but other than this being a bit obvious to his employees and customers it did not affect anyone. He was simply a very nice gentleman to work for who happened to live with his life partner Michael. Gay or not, Barry was the most thorough optician I knew. You did not leave his store with your new glasses unless you were totally satisfied with them. And he would not even send out a frame to have the lenses placed in them unless he was personally satisfied with how the finished glasses would look on you. Barry had been a young optician back in the 80’s, just when thinner lenses were starting to come onto the market. He had quickly learned that the first thin lenses, the ones called poly carbonate, did not give his customers very satisfactory results and after remaking a few pairs of expensive poly carbonate glasses with the old CR39 plastic he would no longer even sell the poly carbonate lenses. When Essilor(brand name) came out with the 1.8 and the 1.9 hi index glass I See Optical did sell quite a few pairs. And the superlenti lens, which was really the first blended myodisc was usually Barry’s choice for high myopes. These superlenti lenses were available in both plastic and glass and were a fairly good choice for someone that did not wish to advertise to the world that they were blind with the thick lenses we needed. Yes, I said “we.” I was born in 1990, and I got my first glasses at the age of 2. By the age of 5, when I started school, I had my first superlenti lenses in their -11D prescription and they were nice and thin and barely noticeable. Ok, I know -11D is not a terribly strong prescription these days, but when you are 5 years old and you are wearing -11D regular plastic lenses in your glasses they sure seemed thick looking to me. I was fortunate in that my prescription never went up that much. Yes, when I started working for Barry in 2014, my prescription had climbed to -17D with some astigmatism, but I escaped the really high jumps that some girls have in their myopia during puberty. And now, 5 years later I am wearing 1.74 hi index plastic lenses in my daily wear glasses that are so thin they look almost like regular glasses. Soon after I first started working full time, I had a young lady of 15 come in for a new pair of glasses. She had her prescription from one of the pediatric ophthalmologists at the hospital and she needed a new pair of glasses as her old ones were too weak. Her prescription was similar to mine, and at one point I let her try my glasses on. She was amazed that they could be so thin, but when I told her the cost, she simply said that was too expensive for her parents. She did not want any of the large frames that were in style and she finally settled on one particular frame. Her choice of frames sat on her nose in such a way that the bridge of the frame sort of set back into the soft tissue at the bridge of her nose and I think if I had put a ruler from her forehead to her nose there would not even have been a bump out from the frame of the glasses. The frame she chose followed just below her eyebrows and the width just went to the sides of her face. The bottom of the frame nicely followed the contours of her eyes, and the color suited her well. I realized that if we put lenses into this frame and she wore it tight to the bridge of her nose there would likely be two problems. The first one was that her eye lashes would probably touch the lenses and the second was that if we made her lenses to the prescription the doctor gave her, then her glasses would possibly be a little too strong. The closer to your eyes that minus glasses are worn the stronger the prescription is and if this distance is less than the doctor measured her at then she could have between -0.50D and -0.75D more minus than she needed. I discussed this with her and she told me that her doctor had asked her where she liked to wear her glasses and she told him that she liked them tight to her face so that is where he had measured her vertex distance at. I explained that the lenses might touch her eyelashes and her answer was that she would cut them if she had to. I then ordered her glasses with 1.67 plastic lenses, and she even cringed a little bit at the cost, so I gave her 10% off. Two weeks later I fit her with new glasses. She had me bend the temple ends right around her ear and this did pull her glasses right tight to her face. If I was talking to anyone but my customer, I would have said she wore her glasses mashed right into her face. And when you looked at her in profile the lenses looked quite thick for having been done in 1.67 index. But a -17D prescription is about the strongest prescription that can be done in 1.67 with a full field lens. In a wider frame there would have been a ring along the temple edge where the lens had run out of prescription. She looked quite nice, and she told me that her glasses felt really comfortable, so I called Barry over to give his approval before she paid and left the store. He asked a few questions and finally said they were good to go. About 6 months later this same young lady came back in to have stronger lenses ordered for her existing frames. Her prescription was now -18.50, a sizeable increase for only 6 months. I suggested 1.74index plastic for her new lenses, but when I told her the cost, she simply said that she had just gotten some money from her parents for her birthday but she could not afford that much money every 6 months. I checked her date of birth and sure enough, she had just turned 16 a couple of weeks ago. At her age it certainly was a strong prescription, and since she was likely going through a growth spurt, I knew she was correct in thinking that she would possibly need another increase within 6 months. But I also knew Barry would not allow a pair of thick looking glasses out of his store with that strong of a prescription. This required a consultation with the boss, so I called Barry over and explained the young lady’s problem. I could tell that the wheels were turning in his head as he just stood there in thought for a minute. “Ok, here is what we will do. We will order the finished lenses with a -2D base curve on the front. That way if we make them in the same 1.67 index plastic the side thickness should remain about the same. But I have to warn you young lady that if you do not like the minus base curve there is nothing, we can do about it. You will just have to wear them and then for the next increase we will have to place you into a myodisc lens.” Barry said. She thought about it for a minute, and then told me to go ahead. I had our lab order the finished lenses and within a few days they arrived. I called the young lady and told her that her lenses had arrived, and she told me she would be in the following day if we could fit them to her frame while she waited. While she was on hold, I checked with the man that did the sizing and he said he could do it for her whenever she came in. She agreed to come in right after school the next day. All the frames that are sold at an optical store have patterns. The pattern is placed in one side of the lens fitting machine and the grinding wheel follows the pattern. If we do not have the correct pattern then a new pattern can be made out of a plastic blank, but since we made, and fitted, the original lenses to the frame it was very probable that we would have the blank still. But Barry wanted the frame to be there so that John, the lab guy, could ensure that the blank was correct. When Brittany arrived the following day, I took her glasses from her and gave them to John. I knew she would be lost without her glasses, and since her old glasses were pretty close to my own prescription, I had put my spare ones in my purse that morning. When I saw her sitting there, unable to even read without correction I went and got my glasses and gave them to her. She was very appreciative as she realized that it would take up to an hour before her new lenses were ready and placed into her frames. John did the job in a little under an hour, and when he finished, he brought the finished glasses out to me so I could have a quick look at them. He had fitted the lenses as close to flush with the front of the fame as possible, which is what Brittany had requested. The finished glasses looked to be very close to the same thickness as the previous, weaker lenses had been. Brittany had been watching as I did this, and I could just imagine her anticipation. I walked over to where she was sitting and told her that her glasses were ready, so she followed me over to the fitting table. She put her new glasses on and looked around. “They are just perfect!” Brittany exclaimed. “I can see everything so very clearly again. It’s wonderful.” I had anticipated that I would have to bring the new glasses just a little away from the bridge of her nose. The concave front of her new lenses should have meant that for her to have the correct power as prescribed by her doctor as close to her eyes as she wore the previous plano concave lenses, it would mean that her new glasses were more like a -18.75D or more likely a -19D prescription. Most opticians do not realize that if you make the front surface of a pair of glasses concave it brings the center of the lens slightly closer to your eyes. This of course would not matter in a low powered prescription, but I had to do the calculations when I was in school and I remembered that a -20.00D lens fitted the normal 13.5mm from the eye would need to be reduced to -19.25D if you brought it to 11.5mm with a -3D front curve. So here was Brittany, telling me that she could see perfectly with her -2D front curve and her glasses tight to her nose. Something was not quite right, but if she was doing this to increase her myopia it was not up to me to judge her. After Brittany had left, I didn’t think about her again until I saw her walk in the door about 8 or 9 months later. I was going to let one of the other optician’s look after her this time, but she headed my way. At least her vision was still good enough to recognize me from a distance. I took a look at her new prescription. She had quite a jump from her previous -18.50D. Even if she had been wearing lenses that were -19D her new -21.00D prescription was a sizeable increase. This was a very strong prescription for an almost 17 year old. I wasn’t sure exactly what I should do. I had 2 people I needed to satisfy, and I knew Barry would not let Brittany out of the store with a pair of glasses he did not approve of. I chickened out and called Barry over immediately for his advice. It was exactly what I would have suggested. Hi index 1.74 plastic lenses or a myodisc lens of 1.67 index were the only options Barry gave her. When I priced the lenses for her, she told me that she could not afford either option. As she was about to leave to see if she could find a place that would supply her with cheaper lenses Barry came back with a folder in his hand. The folder was a special offer for 1.9 hi index glass lenses but the offer was only good for the purchase of a complete pair of glasses. The cost for the complete pair of glasses was going to be lower than replacing the lenses in Brittany’s frame would have been. In our business this often happens, because we want to sell the complete job, and even though Brittany had purchased her frame from us a little over a year earlier we received no discounts from the frame manufacturers if we did not sell a frame and lenses combination. In this case the frame manufacturer was also a huge lens manufacturer and the company had combined their fames and lenses into what I considered an attractive offer. Heck, I considered ordering myself a new pair as with my 25% employee discount they would have been quite inexpensive. The frame and lens offer was more in line with what Brittany had available to spend and I was able to offer her another 10% store discount, much as I had done with the first pair she purchased from us. With this offer Brittany decided that she would select a new frame and use the 1.9 glass lenses. Her only question was how much thinner would her new glasses be? I told her that with the increase in her prescription I expected that the glass lenses would be about the same thickness as her present pair of glasses if she chose a similar size frame and she seemed happy about this. I helped Brittany choose a few different frames that I thought would look good on her and I took pictures of her wearing the three frames she liked best. We were restricted to frames from the same company that made the lenses, so our selection was limited a little. Finally, she chose a brown unisex in a similar style to one of the very popular brand name frames. The eye size was just a bit larger than the old frame she wore, and I explained to her that the lenses would be a little thicker, but that did not deter her from her choice. It took a full 2 weeks for Brittany’s new glasses to come in. When I looked them over to check for the accuracy of the prescription, I thought that she might be upset because they seemed to be a little thicker than her other glasses. But they had managed to fit all of the inner lens curvature into the lens opening and the front curve was flat, so I suspected Brittany would like the appearance. I called her and she came in that afternoon after school to have her new glasses fitted to her face. She looked the new glasses over carefully but didn’t say a thing about the slightly thicker lenses. I placed the new glasses on her face, and she pushed them tightly to the bridge of her nose. She told me everything looked great, and I then bent the temples to fit fairly tightly around her ears. The weight of the glass lenses was a bit more than her old plastic lenses, so I was going to have to fit these frames very carefully so that they were as comfortable for her as they could possibly be. I suggested that she should come in after wearing them for about a week and if there were any pressure points, I would try to adjust them better. A few days later the front door opened, and Brittany came in. I looked at her as she came through the door and loved what I saw. With a person that wears high minus glasses, from a distance all I notice is how much cut in there is and in Brittany’s case it looked as though there was clear sky through at least half of her lenses and her face was very tiny through the lenses. I like that appearance, and I know that with my own -17D prescription I have a similar look. After the usual pleasantries I checked the fit of her new glasses and I managed to adjust them a little better. She was extremely happy with her vision through the new glasses, but she did complain a little about the weight. And I could tell that the ridges on her nose from her glasses were pretty deep, but I had to tell her that one of the consequences of having really bad eyesight meant that your glasses were much heavier because of the thick lenses. She told me she understood, but she guessed she had no choice. I then discussed the possibility of her wearing contact lenses, however she replied that she hated the thoughts of putting anything into her eyes. Also, she said she liked glasses better because her eyes felt safe behind the lenses. As a service person, when a customer walks through the door our principle job is to look after them and hopefully make them happy. Once they walk out the door with a smile on their face our job is finished, and we never see that person again until their next visit. I mentioned earlier that my boss Barry was gay, but that did not affect me. I have always identified as straight, but while I date, and have a number of great men friends to choose from I had not found one that really drew me to him. I was having a hard time right now. When Brittany had come in, and I had originally fitted her glasses, I had touched her a number of times and I can’t really describe it, but it was like a lightning strike ran through my body. Then when she came back for the adjustments when I touched her, I again felt that there was something between us that just could not be explained. She was cute and had a nice figure. I wasn’t unattractive either and while I had never had a same sex relationship I was drawn to this very nearsighted young lady. I could not do anything about my attraction, and it could mean real trouble for me if I were to pursue this feeling. Brittany was only 17 and I was almost 26. Less than a week later the door to the store opened again and Brittany walked through it. This time I didn’t hesitate, and I headed for her before Barry saw her. She explained that she had smudged the lenses of her glasses and she couldn’t see very well, so she wondered if we could get her lenses clean. This only took a minute but as she sat in the chair opposite me with her glasses off and her eyes blank and unseeing, I looked into her beautiful blue eyes and I had the biggest urge to hold her and hug her and kiss her. I carefully put her glasses back on her face and watched her eyes start to focus on me. We stood up and she asked if she owed me anything and I said something I shouldn’t have. I told her to give me a hug and go on her way. She hugged me and it was like an electric shock again. I wasn’t sure if she felt it as well, but I did wonder about her coming in to have her lenses cleaned. Barry takes his lunch at 11:30 and comes back at 12:30. Then I go for lunch myself. Sue, the receptionist generally comes in at 10 and leaves around 4, so she does not take a lunch. Both Barry and I usually go to the little restaurant down by the corner store for a sandwich so if someone was watching me, they would soon see that this was our usual daily routine and it seldom varied. I was a little surprised a week or so after Brittany had been in to have her glasses cleaned to walk into the restaurant and after my eyes adjusted to the dark interior to see her sitting at one of the tables. She waved me over and asked me to join her. I didn’t know what to think as I slowly walked over to her table. “Hug me.” Brittany requested. I did, and again I felt that intense connection as soon as I touched her. “Did you feel something special when we touched?” Brittany asked. I didn’t, no, I couldn’t lie to her. “Yes, yes I did.” I replied. “I have never felt like that before, not even with my boyfriend.” Brittany replied. “I have never been attracted to a female before.” I answered. “Nor have I, but there is something really special going on.” Brittany said. “Well, let’s nip it in the bud before I get into trouble.” I replied. “I won’t get you into trouble.” She answered. “How can you stop it from leading to trouble? I am a 26-year-old woman and you are only 17. If I were to be caught with you in my bed – my arms even, I could be charged with having sexual relations with an under aged girl. My life would be ruined.” I said. “I will never say anything.” Brittany answered. “I can’t take that chance. I feel it as much as you do, but we have to wait until you are 18.” I told her. ‘What if I come to your apartment? Then no one can say you coerced me.” Brittany said. You know I have an apartment? And you know where it is?” I asked. “Ever since I first met you, I knew I had to have you in my arms, in my bed and in my life. I made my eyes worse by wearing the first glasses I bought from you very tight to my eyes and by reading all the time just so I could get new, stronger glasses sooner. I originally loved that your prescription was the same as mine, but I also had to see you again and again.” Brittany replied. “You knew that you were making your eyesight worse just so that you could see me?” I asked incredulously. “Yes, I knew that would likely happen. But I just needed to be near you. When you took my glasses off to measure me for new frames, or to adjust my glasses I trembled to your touch.” Brittany said. Finally, I had to leave to go back to work. We agreed that for the next month or so Brittany should come by to see me every week to have her glasses adjusted or cleaned. I needed to get my head around this before things went any further, although I felt they had gone too far already. She did stop by, more frequently than once a week, but not so often that she called attention to me. Once a screw had come out of her temple hinge, so I put a new one in, and another time she actually needed a slight adjustment. Barry noticed that Brittany stopped by a little more frequently than was normal for just a customer and he commented that it looked like that girl was in love with me. I didn’t need that connection so the following Sunday I had arranged for Brittany to stop by and visit me at my apartment. We ended up in my bed like 2 lovesick teenagers – and that was the problem. This started a Sunday routine and while I feared getting caught, I could not stop. I was as much in love with Brittany as she was with me. We talked and talked, and neither of us had had an attraction to anyone of the same sex before we met. But now we couldn’t keep our hands off each other. Finally, Brittany turned 18 and she wanted to move out of her parent’s home and move in with me. I put her off for a couple of months but finally she had pestered me so much I said yes, and she came to live with me. Her parents were fit to be tied when they found out that their daughter was in a lesbian relationship and my own parents were not too happy either. But nothing could keep us apart. Here we were, 2 fairly attractive and very nearsighted lesbian ladies and we were extremely happy. Once Brittany had moved in with me and we both accepted the fact that we were in love with each other Brittany’s eyesight stabilized. Actually, it had stabilized shortly after she met me in the restaurant that day and now after a couple of years of being together neither of us had any further deterioration in our vision. We discussed getting married and we ended up having a civil ceremony, so we were now a legitimate married couple.
I sort of pressured Brittany into the marriage thing. I had a very cute 10-year-old girl as a customer from the pediatric hospital that Brittany had been a high myopic patient at. This young lady had a prescription of-30D and had been orphaned at the age of 6. I suspected that the reason she had not been adopted yet was because of her thick myodiscs and her poor eyesight. Brittany had not found a fulltime job yet, so we decided that she would become the house mother and we would attempt to adopt Adelle. The adoption was successful so now we were a family of 3 and not one of us could see past the end of our nose without our thick glasses. Being together with Brittany and Adelle felt to me as if lightning had struck me. Specs4ever August 2019