If My Socks Don’t Match I Now Have An Excuse

“What number do you see,” he asked? I didn’t see any number!

This afternoon Helaine and I went to get our eyes checked and get fitted for new glasses. New insurance plan. New place to shop.

Can someone explain how eyeglass frames can cost nearly $600? Granted this was before getting my new glasses, but I swear I saw that price tag… and nearly fainted!

Anyway, I went for my eye exam. The doctor was very thorough. I sat behind the giant lens machine choosing “one” or “two.”

Is anyone ever sure they’re answering correctly? I’m not. I’m always worried I’ll make the wrong choice and see the world in a soft blur for the next year or two.

After narrowing down my prescription the doctor took out a book with round blobs of abstract colors. He was testing for color blindness.

“What number do you see,” he asked?

I didn’t see any number!

He went through page-after-page and though I saw a few numbers… sort of… mostly I just saw round blobs of abstract colors.

“You didn’t know?” he asked.

“No.”

I suspected, but this was the first concrete evidence I’m color blind. Here’s how Wikipedia describes it:

Color blindness or color vision deficiency is the inability or decreased ability to see color, or perceive color differences, under lighting conditions when color vision is not normally impaired.

I guess that’s me. It’s not the kind of thing you notice until you’re tested for it.

The practical takeaway is there’s a good reason I’m so good at choosing clothes that don’t match!

15 thoughts on “If My Socks Don’t Match I Now Have An Excuse”

  1. I feel your pain Geoff. My color sight used to be so good that if I stood in a dark area I could see the color difference between incandescent, flourescent, and daylight. Now not so much, only missed one page though the last time I was tested.

  2. 6 & 45 🙂 I can so relate to not knowing if I’m answering correctly and then worrying I’ll be stuck w/ less than perfect eye glasses for the next 2 years…very funny…thought I was the only one that thought that.

  3. I just tell um ” naaaw I got another pair just like it at home ;-)). Real problems when your saying that about your sneaks :-D. ( your secret is safe with me Geoff )

  4. My husband is color blind. But it never fails, when I’m not sure of what I’m wearing, I ask his opinion. If it doesn’t look good to him, I’ll change. I figure if a color-blind person doesn’t like my choices, a normal sighted person probably will find it strange! (6 and 45, BTW.)

  5. It’s amazing that for as many times as you’ve likely had your eyes examined no other doctor made mention of this color deficiency problem that you have. Thumbs up to your eye doctor for being thorough.

  6. Wow…I get my eyes checked every year and never had that test! I guess if you don’t know what you are missing (colors)…then how would you know??

  7. I’ve known I was color blind since I was a kid. I failed the color test in high school and when I got my drivers license. Occasionally I will ask my kids or my husband for help identifying a dark color but other than that there’s really no problem. And yes, it is extremely rare for a woman to be color blind.

  8. I have it too,but not as bad.I just can`t see the differences between colors that are very light or very dark.Light blue and white look the same as do dark blue,dark purple and black.I also can`t read anything if it is green,red or blue on a white back round.

  9. There is a HUGE markup on frames! Saw a story on the news years ago that said the markup on most frames was at least 200%…I’m sure it’s much more than that now. And what can we do about it? We need the glasses so we have to pay for the frames! Providers figure most people have insurance so the insurance will pay the cost, but not everyone has insurance to cover routine eye care and glasses. I’ve always thought that lens and frames are a big ripoff, but who’s going to do something about it?

  10. What amazes me is that you only found out just now. Maybe i don’t understand but i thought Color Blindness had nothing to do with age. I’m glad you have a new doctor- looks like he’s the real deal!

  11. Join the club, Geoff! Like me, alot of men have color deficiency. It’s really quite common. Mine is red/green, mostly. Makes using an orange golf ball out of the question!

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