Spectacles, Specs

Have you ever thought about eye glasses?

I don't mean just wondering if you need glasses and having your friends crowd around to see how well they can read a sign's various text sizes a few feet away, or idly noting that everyone in the room has glasses on.

Have you thought about how strange they are? Have you tried to envision how glasses would look to aliens?

(grandma, aunt, sister, grandpa, mom, 1980's)

I think they are wonderful. Throughout my life I remember noticing glasses all the time. I wondered if I needed them. I thought about how odd they are, and wondered what archaeologists in 1000 years will think of them.

(check out wikipedia if you also wonder where they came from)

I highly suspect that my heightened childhood awareness had to do with the styles of the 80's and early 90's. Big, thick, yellowy glasses burned into my mind--grown up eyes peering from behind them, teaching me how to be human.

My mom firmly stated, "I always choose big glasses so I can see more."

She had a point.

I was destined to need them, of course, and now I don't know how I would live without them. I savor the twice-a-day thorough eye rub, though occasionally I have spicy food on my fingers and it makes things worse.
I feel naked and self conscious when I have to clean my glasses in public. I consciously started the habit of pushing my glasses up my nose, just to see how it felt.

My two eyes have significantly different prescriptions and I consider this a positive and unique trait. The nose pad on one lens is missing, though I find at the end of the day that side of my nose is actually less irritated.

Which pair is the real pair?

I find myself thinking about eyes and glasses a lot because seeing is important to me. It is my world and though my actual eye balls are crippled, I find my visual cortex to be satisfyingly educated.

What do you remember about glasses throughout your life?