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Wednesday, April 8, 2009

The EYE of the beholder

I believe Dr. A.B Kopanski would be very proud of me. I know he would be smiling from ear to ear.

"Well done, Pani Ida", he would say. "I pray to Allah for him to bless you with higher diopters".

"I also pray that your daughters would be myopic like you".

Yes, everybody. I am not perfect. I am myopic with -8.50 diopters. I have been hiding away my imperfection since I was 15 years old! Behold, the gel like lenses that have been fulfilling my vanity.
I am vain. I have made a vow not to expose myself donning a pair of spectacles to the heartless criticising public. I do not know who is that bespectacled woman looking at me from the other side of the mirror.

Mirror..mirror..on the wall, who is the fairest of us all?

Silence.

Cammon la mirror tell me, I won't shatter you if you tell me the truth.

Then, at the age of 33, my eyes protested against me. They are at war with my contact lenses. Perhaps me preps are simply fed up of being suffocated due to the lack of oxygen. You know of the cons when on lenses for very long hours. The eyes just cannot take these nonsense anymore.
The ophthalmalogist has banned me from wearing lenses. "No way", she warned, "No matter how vain you are, you are definitely off these eyeballs nibbling gels", she was refering to my contact lenses.


"But how shall I go to work, people are going to laugh at me. I will look like Datuk Lat's Kampung Boy school teacher (forgot her name)".

The doctor rolled her eyes.

This was my third visit to her clinic. Ida and her same old problem. Eyes infection due to long hour usage of lenses. My eyes are tired. Perhaps tired of me being so vain. Why could not I abide to the doctor's instruction?

Then she gave me an ultimatum. I had to be off contacts for 2 weeks then she will conduct a thorough check up of my eyes, to prepare for LASIK. What is that? Well, Dr. A. B Kopanski would simply define it as slicing of the retina with laser beams..haha, how he hates any forms of corrective measures for the eye sight.

So last Monday, I told myself, "What the heck, Ida, you have such a great personality (DUH!), why should you even care of how others would react to your new-not-so-pleasant look? You should share your sweetest smile with others, be your true self."

I stepped into the school looking different. I had my glasses on. Mine are not the trendy ones. This is because the lenses are thick due to the high diopters of my myopia. But, hey..they do not look like a pair of goggles, so please don't even try to visualize me looking like a fish!

I received mixed reactions from my friends and students. Some automatically laughed. I don't know why. Others just smiled and assumed that something was wrong with my eyes. Oh yes, I even had a colleague (En. Shahbuddin to be exact) who claimed that there was no difference at all.

Damn, suddenly fishing for compliments is becoming rather tough for me. God, why am I so vain?

I have to be careful with the choice of colours for my clothes now, I have to make sure that the hues are 'agreeable' with the frames and all. I have to enhance the eyes a bit as they have become smaller blocked of their brightness by the thick glasses.

I don't care if I look bad or not. I am not going to torture my precious eyes in the name of vanity. Hey, beauty comes from within, you know.

Ok, I cannot lie, please, how bad do I look?

Then came Wan Ahmad Afiq..a good boy he is, said to his friends, "Cun apa, Pn Ida pakai glasses". I was elated, could not stop smilling, perhaps I was blushing too. Silly of me, but what to do, just doing my bit as a woman, who is not afraid to admit that she is very vain.

Dear Dr. Kopanski, trully Allah has answered your prayers. I am a firm believer of spectacles now and Sarah is of -4.25 diopters at the age of 9 years old. Oh yes, thanks for the scrapbooks on women with glasses. It is funny to see the photos of my bespectacled self struggling my sweetest smile before the camera..sigh.

I cannot wait for LASIK.

29 comments:

Desert Rose said...

Ida,

One more option pakai magnifying glass LOL.

Betul la tu, cun apa u pakai glasses. Nowadays glasses make fashion statement, so it will fashionable on u, don worry.

I heard that LASIK will be fantastic for about a year or so then u got to do it again.

I had an infection before, so tell me about it la. But in my case a mascara was the culprit not lenses as I dont wear them. I do need some corrective measure though, tapi seriyau nak pakai lenses, I ni penakut u tau.

Ida Hariati Hashim said...

Kak Eza,

Ala benci la u ni..hahahhaha..

Muka i buruk wei pakai glasses, mcm garang giler..tetiba aura garang pun datang, dah berapa ramai students i bengkeng lately...hahahah.

I kena infection time i tgh stress buat keje a month ago. I was having flu, thus my nostrils sumbat. I worked till late with my lenses on, lepas menangis beria2 sebab stress..so, tear duct sumbat, thus infection la..penat nak cerita..i ni mcm2 hal la..

Mintak nyawa!

CS said...

Salam. What IF .. there's none to make you see? Haa.. (macam mak marahkan anak nih), hehe. Whenever I wear my specs to read/type, hubby wld say I look like Cikgu sekolah ugama. Trust what your students say that cun mean cun. No less.

Anonymous said...

When I learnt that I had to wear glasses (age 13), I almost jumped off the 3rd floor dorm balcony: bespectacled geeks will never get to fly fighters for the Air Force. Dream shattered.

But I got over it.

Then, I realised that nobody changed their opinion of me just because I wore glasses - they despised me as vehemently as they did before :-)

Being a decrepit old git, I also discovered something I'd like to share with you. When good people (the ones that should matter to us) look at us, they only see our heart: they are oblivious to everything else - including our glasses!

Naz in Norway said...

It's just a pair of glasses. You are still you, honey!

Naz in Norway said...

oh on second thoughts,
if you don't like Eja's suggestion, you might want to consider mine...
pakai telescope je lah! :D

Anonymous said...

hey ida,

glass-ians rule!! (just made up that term.)

from,
fellow 'makcik'

lenzaidi said...

Pssttt Ida.. i was bespectacled too.My latest was the one with two shades plus i was a byfocal!!..Can you imagine how i would have looked? You know when you reach fourty at that time byfocal is the order of the day prescribed by your optician. also ive been suffering from long or was it short sightedness along with a bit of astagmitism. ive been wearing glasses since varsity.I put on and off glasses on whim.I never like to put on something on my faces...i feel ive tons of something or kinda big obstacle on my face.

Then Somehow, i got the habit of not wearing my spec and misplaced it when i was living in Bangkok.In that two years i didnt get to mark papers or strain my eyes to prepare lessons etc.At that time too id been drinking carrot juice whenever i could get hold of .

Now i walk without any pair.My eye sight is still good.I wouldnt mind not being able to see anyone beyond 50 meters.So anyone in sight would be getting a no see from me hehe.That also means i will not be able to see hubby walking with someone at that distant ;-(

The multitude of Bangkok city sights and the notorious street of bangkok had done good to my eye sights lol.I believe drinking carrot juice frequently can do justice to the eye too.

i.k said...

i think u just look great. :)
btw,i'm so sry i didnt enter your class on wednesday and thursday.
on wednesday,i went to gym .helped on syahbandar`s banner.
on thursday,i went to help laksamana at bilik sakit.
seriously,i dont skip your class on purpose. :)
sry.

Ida Hariati Hashim said...

Miss Muffin,

Wah, so fierce la you...hahah. Iye, I appreciate these eyes of mine, but teruk giler rabun ni..hahahaha.

P/S: I hate to sleep in total darkness, as not able to see 'anything', a glimmer of light does magic!

Ida Hariati Hashim said...

Dear Abg Bangkai (feel nice or not?),

I am so sorry to hear about your shattered dreams.

I wonder how you survived the jump from the third floor? See, God made you a myopic but endowed you with the ability to land safely on your feet from a high jump.

Like Superman la..

Ida Hariati Hashim said...

Dear Kak Naz,

Know what, I had a friend who called me telescope. I was not angry la (but in his presence buat-buat marah) as I fancied him...hahhahah..

That was when I was in my kindies..(minah 'merele' was in the making).

Have a great week ahead.

Ida Hariati Hashim said...

Hello Coach,

Hi sista with glasses, welcome to my world!

Haish..I think the frame is leaving a mark on my nose bridge la..u think can go off ka?

U take care.

Ida Hariati Hashim said...

Hi Len,

A fren helped me to calculate the number of books that we have to mark and stamp..mine is abt 490 books..mana tak rabun my eyes ni?

Tadi you pegi mana, ya? I was in Shahbuddin's room..iye la Her Majesty tak de, so the paupers pun naik tocang la...hahahha

Ida Hariati Hashim said...

I.K,

I malas la kawan you. I wonder why la you pegi tolong sampai semua org sampai missed my classes apasal?

U better remind yourself and the other minah backbenches 4 Kamil tu to complete the tasks I have given, I mengamok nanti!

hobbit1964 said...

Dear Ida

If it worked for Ms Palin and Ms Fey, it can work for you.

And I personally have worked with F/A-18D Hornet pilots who are four-eyed. The caveat is that you must begin ab-initio pilot training without glasses, but if you need them later, it's okay.

IBU said...

Salam Ida,

Ibu pun sama, vain pun vain la... aiyooo... mmg cannot cope with those glasses resting on my nose. My eyes were very bad too. I did PRK ( woiit... bukan parti politik tu!) - photo keratachtomy. It was a few years b4 lasik technology. So now with LASIK, i think you shouldn't think twice. Opt for it laaaa... Safe, fast & save cost in the long run really!!

SkyJuice said...

Good luck with the upcoming LASIK! I might consider that one day.

Mimi said...

why did kopanski pray that 2 u? aku cam heran la Ida..

myslef pun myopic and i thought of going thru LASIK but not berani enough la..pls share ur experience wif all of us..pleassee..

I pakai glasses now, got it in high index and all coz tebai gila kalo buat yg biasa..no more contact lens for me coz my eyes got itchy bila pakai even for 2 hours...dunno why...da jaga elok ..monthly disposable, cleaning solutions, rendam complete semua..but still itchy...aiyaa..

Lee said...

Hi ida, wow! You changed your profile pic. You look great Ida.
By the way, ladies with glasses do look good.
Look at Sara Palin, she looked gorgeous with her glasses.
And the Japanese factory had to rush 60,000 of those same frames and glasses to US.
Suddenly girls enjoy wearing glasses.

Mirror, mirror on the wall...Ida is the fairest of them all.
Have fun, Ida.
Lee.

mamasita said...

Hai Ida.
I came to your blog as soon as I saw your comment left at mine.I was about to say you looked very pretty!
I am sorry I am at a loss with the myopic and dokto jargon.Lenses or specs you're as pretty,demure,intelligent and witty as ever.
By the way,I just realised you're only 33.Thats my future son-in-law's age! Thus, I am of aunty status to you my dear! hehehe

Ida Hariati Hashim said...

Dear Major,

Alah..that's Sarah Palin..I am just plain Ida. Anyway, tq so much for the encouraging words.

Gosh, Major..the term 'four-eyed' that you've coined just now made shudder. I used to feel 'deformed' when someone used this, don't know why I felt inferior..I guess, I am still feeling the same way till now..

Do I need to see a shrink?

Ida Hariati Hashim said...

Ibu,

Itu le i nak p check up balik this 16th April ni..the doc said mine has be a customized one due to the 'high power' (layman's term). Dah lah astigmatism rather high at 150..apalah teruk punya rabun!

No I tak suka tgk TV..ni bukan kes tgk TV byk masa kecik2 ni..I was born myopic..

Ida Hariati Hashim said...

Hi Miss Skyjuice how was the exam?

Tq so much..i will definitely try it.

Mimi,

Ondek..mato ku toruok rabun nyo. My eyes can tolerate no lenses..but sometimes nak melawa punya pasal..ku tahen je la..hahah

Mimi, I would like to recommend Alcon Lenses Solution..very good tau.

U know how Kopanski suka menyakat org..how i miss him..the best History Professor ever..He thinks women with glasses are sexy..

Ida Hariati Hashim said...

Bonjour Lee,

Tq la..haiya so shy la..heheh. Know what today I received another favourable comment on my new bespectacled look...hahah..now that makes it three already..Cannot help it, la.

Have a great weekends ahead, Lee.

Ida Hariati Hashim said...

Yea yea, here come the Datin. Welcome back.

To show how different I look with glasses on, a student had to ask his friend who I was..muka mcam familiar, but yang pakai glasses ni awat muka garang sgt.

I think my voice projection has improved tremendously..don't know what is the connection with glasses. Perhaps with them on me, I feel lagi garang, mcm madam Principal pulak..hahha

Salt N Turmeric said...

I wear glasses too although now I only wear contact lenses due to the cost of making glasses. Actually I like wearing glasses but the reason why I chose to get contact lenses is because it is just so difficult to find a nice pair of sunnies where i can add the prescription. And im damn tired of carrying 2 pairs of glasses! lol.

But im so gonna get a couple pairs of glasses when i go home nanti. ;)

Mama Huptihup said...

ida, do u know that kopanski said he did not like me bcoz i tak pakai glasses?? sungguh la i marah..ada ke patut ckp mcm tu...hmmm

Ida Hariati Hashim said...

Hahhhhh..kopanski..he said that to u? Mulut tak dak insurans betul..