It is not often that I miss a week riding somewhere for breakfast with a group of my motorcycle friends. We are a diverse group of retirees and for a Tuesday ride we are on a variety of motorcycles, ranging from BMW’s to Harley’s with a smattering of Honda’s Yamaha’s and Suzuki’s in the bunch.
Early Spring and late Fall are the best times in this area for riding, because the summer around Vegas is way too hot, and December and January are just a little too cool for early morning breakfast rides. But this year November was a fantastic month for decent riding weather, and we had some great trips.
About 6 weeks ago, around mid October, we all geared up and headed for a restaurant that we often go to. It is a 63 mile trip one way, and if we leave at 8:00 am we can be seated by 9. Naturally one of the guys calls ahead to give them fair warning that a group of 20 or so wannabee Hells Angles are on their way – with or without their walkers( and one of the guys actually did carry a walker strapped to the back of his Honda Trike after his knee replacement). When we arrived I was one of the last people seated, as I had remained outside with my bike removing my leathers. I like to get out of my chaps, because it is generally warm enough to ride home with just jeans on.
I sat down and idly chatted for a minute with one of my friend who was seated next to me. The waitress came to me first and asked if I wanted a coffee, and I turned my cup over for her to pour it. I had not even glanced her way, but said a thank you. She went on to pour my friend a cup, and then she filled the cup of the guy next to him. That was when I noticed that this was a new waitress, and she was wearing a pretty strong looking pair of minus lensed glasses in a plastic frame that was a bit dated. That one glance was all it took to grab my attention, and I watched her as she went around the table. Since she started with me she ended up opposite me and I was finally able to get a decent close up head on look at her.
I suppose it isn’t fair to use the expression “rode hard and put away wet” to describe her. Or maybe no one younger than I am would understand what I mean. This expression came from the cattle ranches where hands would ride a horse all day and wear them out. Then they would put them away in the barn without toweling the horse down, so the horse would have been rode hard and put away wet. What I probably should have said to describe this waitress was to say that she was a pleasant looking lady, but there was more than a trace of a hard life etched into her face.
As she went from one to the other of us I was watching her intently. She would finish writing the one guy’s order on her pad, and then she would push her glasses up to the bridge of her nose and look at the next customer. When he gave her his order she would look at her pad as she wrote, and the minute she looked down her glasses would move down her nose about 1/4” to 3/8”. It wasn’t a lot, and I probably wouldn’t have even noticed if she hadn’t pushed them up tight before she looked at her next customer. I realized then that her glasses were likely a little too weak for her now, and she needed to push them up to see clearly. But where they slipped back to was probably the point where they had been adjusted to fit the best when she first got them, and that was now the right distance for her to see close up at.
I have gone to great pains to keep my private life separated from my real life. When I am out with friends I will look at a lady who wears glasses, but for the most part it is just a casual glance or two. But this was a lot more than a casual glance. Whenever this lady appeared I could hardly take my eyes off her, and I was not really joining in any of the conversations that were going on around the table. I was sure that my friends were going to notice that I was fixated on this waitress. I just couldn’t help it. I have a fascination for ladies who wear strong glasses, and have had for most of my life. However I don’t want this fascination to become common knowledge, so I knew I was going to have to do my best to ignore this captivating lady. I managed to remain concentrated on my group for the rest of the breakfast and I only snuck quick glances at this very nearsighted waitress.
I dawdled over my food, and when it was time to pay I noticed that she was the one at the till. So I left a $2.00 tip on the table and went to pay my bill. She was wearing a nice big nametag, so I searched for an opening.
“You are new here aren’t you?” I asked Louise.
“”Not really, but I did just switch my days. Now I work Sunday to Thursday. I was working Wednesday to Sunday before.” Louise replied.
“That is why I never saw you on one of our Tuesday rides. You did a darned good job handling such a loud group.” I said.
“Thanks, but you guys are really pretty tame compared to some of the groups we get.” Louise answered.
With that I left, as the others were likely going to leave without me if I didn’t make an appearance soon. Fortunately one of the other guys was still in the shitter, so I wasn’t the last one out. Our ride back home went without incident, and we all went home to our rockers.
The next day all I could think about was Louise, the waitress. My wife noticed that I seemed preoccupied, and she asked me if something was wrong, but I made up a health related pain excuse that satisfied her. She did have to comment that maybe I should give up riding my Harley if it caused me pain though.
Finally on the Thursday morning I could take no more. I told my wife I was going to ride by and see Jim, one of the guys I rode with. There are 3 Jims in the group, so I was pretty sure that all 3 of them wouldn’t drop by my house to see me. Then I rode the 63 miles to the restaurant. I managed to see what section Louise was working that morning so I made sure I seated myself in her area. When she did her trick with the glasses I made a comment.
“Looks like you need your glasses tightened up a little, or you are about due new glasses Louise.” I said.
“I can’t afford new ones right now. I did drop by the optical store to see if that could bend the ears a little bit tighter, but the girl was afraid to touch these glasses in case they broke. These ones are pretty old.” Louise said.
I ordered my food, and didn’t say anything more until she returned with my bill.
“I used to work in the optical field before I retired. I know where you can probably get a new pair of glasses for less than a hundred bucks.” I said.
“I’d have to get my eyes tested first Mister. I think these glasses have gotten a little bit weak for me.” Louise said.
“With your prescription you should be seeing your eye doctor every year.” I replied.
“That is easy to say, but I just don’t have the money.” Louise replied.
“I am afraid that if you had a retinal detachment and went blind you would be unable to earn the money.” I said.
“My old doctor told me about those retinal detachments. That is a scary thought. Does it really happen a lot?” Louise asked.
“Only if you neglect having your eyes and your retina’s checked. It is fairly easy to prevent a detachment if they catch it at an early stage. They just repair it with a laser, and it is fast and painless.” I said.
“It has been a long time since I saw an eye doctor. I guess I had better plan on seeing one soon. I sure wouldn’t want to go blind.” Louise replied.
“I might be able to set you up with an appointment. Do you want me to give a couple of doctors I know a call?” I asked.
“I don’t know when I will have the money.” Louise replied.
“I’ll see what I can work out with them. You really shouldn’t put this off any longer. I’ll bet from the age of your glasses it is probably about 15 years since you saw a doctor.” I said.
“My eyes quit getting worse around the time I was 21 and I am 36 now, so you are probably right.” Louise answered.
“I will try to get you an appointment as soon as possible. I guess Fridays would work best for you?” I asked.
“Friday would be the best day if you can do it.” Louise replied.
“I will try. Do you have a phone number I can call, and I suppose I should have your last name. Mine is Joe Swales by the way.” I told her.
“My last name is Brant, and my number is 495 2354.” Louise replied and I wrote it in my notebook.
After I had eaten I called a couple of the doctors that were listed in the local phone book. I needed an ophthalmologist to do a proper, thorough examination of Louise’s eyes and I knew it could be a little difficult to get an appointment without a referral. But since there would be no outside healthcare providers involved I decided I would just call and sort of pretend I was an optometrist referring a patient. My ploy worked. I was asked if I would send my patient’s records over, so I told them that this young lady was very nearsighted, but didn’t have any money and hadn’t had an exam in 15 years. I thought that she should see an ophthalmologist, so instead of wasting her money on an examination by me I felt I would just send her on to a proper doctor. This ploy worked, and I managed to snag Louise an appointment for the following Friday at 10 am.
With this I went back inside the restaurant and told Louise I had arranged an appointment for her the following Friday at 10 am. She asked about the cost, and I told her not to worry, that it was taken care of. Since her eyes would probably be dilated I also arranged to come back to pick her up and take her to see the doctor on Friday and she agreed to let me.
The next week and a half dragged on at a snails pace. I was having a hard time waiting for Friday, and when Thursday night came around I causally mentioned to my wife that I was going to be taking the car over to Chuck’s to look at the brakes and maybe do a brake job if it was required. I wasn’t worried that she would call Chuck as long as I had my own cell phone turned on. Sometimes you just gotta love technology.
I picked Louise up at 9:30. She lived in a small, shabby looking house in a section of town that was known for its low cost housing. I didn’t know her circumstances, nor would I have been able to do anything about them if I had. The only thing that really interested me was to have her eyes looked at by a professional, and to help her get a new pair of glasses. We arrived at the doctor’s office in plenty of time, and Louise gave the receptionist all of her pertinent information. When she started to ask Louise how she was going to pay for the services I managed to motion to her that I was the one who was paying, and I motioned for her to zipper her mouth. Fortunately she did.
The eye exam took about 45 minutes from the time I saw the doctor enter the room that the receptionist took Louise into until Louise and the doctor came out. During this time I paid the receptionist the $120.00 that the eye exam was going to cost and she gave me a receipt.
After we left the doctor’s office I was dying to look at Louise’s prescription, but I didn’t want to appear too eager, so I asked her if she wanted to have lunch. She did not want to go to the restaurant where she worked, and I could understand that, so we found another nearby diner. I had already asked about her retinas and she told me that the doctor said that everything looked to be in very good shape for being as nearsighted as she was.
Of course I had attempted to guess what Louise’s approximate prescription was. I had come up with somewhere between -14 and -16D. When she showed me the slip I knew I had been pretty close. Her new prescription read OD -17.50 x -2.50 x 30 and OS -17.25 x -2.75 x 150. This was a significant amount of myopia, and she would be in real trouble if she ever broke her glasses.
“Can you really get me a new pair of glasses for under $100.00?” Louise asked.
“Yes, I can. Do you have access to a computer and the internet?” I asked.
“Not at home, but I can go to the library.” Louise replied.
“That won’t work for ordering your glasses, but we can go there to go on the website and see what frames you like. Then I can order them for you when I get home.” I answered.
That is what we did. We went to the library and Louise selected 5 or 6 different frames that she liked. Then I priced them all out and she selected her 2 favorite ones. I kept track of the numbers of the frames, and when I dropped Louise off I first measured her pupillary distance before I headed for home.
Of course I had to tell my wife that the brakes on the car were just fine, but I had gone by Bob’s place to visit with him for a while, and he had needed a hand with fixing some furniture. Thank goodness my wife and my motorcycle friends really do not meet very often.
I got on the computer that evening and ordered Louise 3 pairs of glasses. I ordered one pair in a frame that she had really liked as a pair of single vision lenses with a 1.67 index lens. Then I chose another frame that she liked and I ordered them in the cheaper lens option with a dark sunglass tint. The third pair was a frame that I really thought would look wonderful on her, and for this pair I ordered her a bifocal lens, with an add of +2.00D. For all 3 pairs of glasses I had added -0.50D to her spherical in each eye but had kept the astigmatic correction as the doctor had prescribed. I paid for all 3 pairs, and had them sent directly to her house. I would have loved to have gotten a look at them first, but I just didn’t know how I could manage that.
Louise called me the night that her glasses had arrived. She asked me why I had ordered her 3 pairs, and I explained that she needed sunglasses anyway, and that the sunglasses along with her clear glasses had only cost right around the hundred bucks she was going to pay me. I then explained that she might find it easier at work if she wore the bifocal glasses, because she always had to change her focus from near to far and bifocals would make this chore easier for her. She invited me up the next day so she could model her new glasses for me, and to pay me the $100.00 she had put aside for her glasses.
I did ride over to visit Louise the following day, which was about 2 weeks ago now. I asked her how her vision was with her new glasses and she was thrilled with how well she could see everything. I didn’t really care for the sunglasses because the lenses were slightly biconcave, but Louise said she could see just fine when she was wearing them. She had tried the bifocals for work, and she said that they made everything up close much clearer and bigger, so she was planning to wear them to work most of the time. Once Louise had new, more modern looking glasses she no longer looked as tired and worn out to me, so I felt that this would give her more self confidence. I took the $100.00 and she thanked me with a hug and a big kiss.
I rode on home, satisfied that I had been able to assist a myope in need.
Specs4ever Dec 2012