By Lee Scott

There is a party going on at my house and I was not invited. Somewhere, in one of the rooms in our home, my reading glasses have all gathered and they are having a great time without me. I know this because I cannot find one pair. Of course, there is the occasional time when I am looking for my reading glasses and my husband will say, “They are on your head.” Or I discover after looking everywhere that they are attached to a strap around my neck, but most of the times, the glasses are just partying together somewhere.

My love/hate relationship with reading glasses coincided with my 40th birthday. The print on the newspaper was just not big enough. So like many people, I went to the drug store to one of those displays that carries a hundred pair of glasses with power levels ranging from +1.00 to +4. I was very disappointed when I realized right away that I was going to need the +1.25 power level. This is when my annual trips for more reading glasses began. I bought the polarized ones during the summer and assorted styles that ranged from white framed to rimless glasses. It also seemed that whenever I was traveling I had to buy a pair in one of those little airport shops. Then the inevitable happened; I needed a stronger power +1.50 then +2.0. However, I don’t think I have ever thrown any of them away regardless of their strength, unless you count the pair that was held together with a band aid.

Ultimately, I had to go to an Eye Doctor. There I was presented with my prescription for progressive lenses because the road signs were getting as hard to read as the newspaper print. But these are my good glasses that go in my designated eyeglass case. They are not allowed to play with all those drug store glasses. The drug store glasses are used for things around the house, like reading a recipe from a cookbook. (Is that one half cup or one quarter cup?) Or, reading the name of the caller on the phone’s caller I.D. They do come in handy. But wouldn’t you think they would all like to party together in the kitchen junk drawer with all the pens, pencils, paperclips and assorted other items. No, not my glasses.

I do find them eventually. Three of them spent last night partying in the night stand next to my bed. There were two pair located in the little compartment between the front car seats and my husband found a couple lying on the shelf in the laundry room. I just wish next time they would invite me to their party.