Cheaters
Yr Fthfl Srvnt caved.
I decided to carry my cheaters in my front shirt pocket. I always need ‘em. “I can’t read that. Where are my cheaters?”
I held out as long as I could, into my 70s. But my vision started degrading. My railfan brother, who accompanies me to Altoona, PA, to photograph trains, turned 60 last year.
He also wears cheaters. His eyesight degraded before mine — probably his genealogy. He also carries his cheaters.
“Wait a minute! I can’t see that!” Out come my cheaters.
“I can’t even sign my name.” I probably could, and often do, but cheaters help.
The ones in my pocket are my ‘pyooter glasses, 1.5X, I have others elsewhere, all 2.5X. I have five 2.5s, all compliments of Canandaigua Eye-Care Center.
I had an insurance benny of $100. Five times $20 is $100. “But I don’t need five pairs of cheaters,” I said.“Your benefit is $100; anything less is out-of-yer-pocket.”
So five pair of drugstore cheaters elegantly dispersed throughout my house, in my car, etc.
Silly as that was, I prefer Eye-Care Center. As a retired RTS bus-driver, I’m entitled to a negotiated vision-care benefit.
PASS! I prefer Eye-Care Center, which is paid by my health insurance.
The reason is Heidi Piper, M.D. , Houghton College, 1987. I could tell she was a Houghton grad as soon as I met her. “Get it right!” Extremely professional, and she cared about what she was doing instead of pulling rank.
I graduated Houghton in 1966.
Prior to Eye-Care, I was using vision-care at an HMO near Rochester, (I don’t know that HMOs exist any more.) They looked in my eyes, and noticed I had a scar.
“You’ll notice the scar,” I informed my Eye-Care Ophthalmologist. They went ballistic. “That’s a retinal tear; you need that fixed right away!”
DROP EVERYTHING! Heidi was brought in to do laser eye surgery. M.D. from St. Louis University School of Medicine, internship at Strong Memorial Hospital in Obstetrics and Gynecology, general surgery and Ophthalmology residencies at Penn State-Geisinger Medical Center, but BS from Houghton. Feet-on-the-ground, no posturing.
Why are so many Houghton graduates like that? I think it was because our professors weren’t elitists. They cared about us, and it rubbed off.
I’ve met a few Houghton grads over the years, and they all weren’t elitists. Feet-on-the-ground. The Executive-Editor at the Mighty Mezz was Houghton 1980.
Even a guy who was a complete jerk at Houghton now has his feet on-the-ground.
So now I’m awash in 2.5X cheaters, and I need ‘em.
When it comes time for cataract surgery I’m gonna advocate for Heidi.
• “RTS” equals Regional Transit Service, the public transit-bus operator in Rochester, NY, where I drove transit-bus for 16&1/2 years (1977-1993). My stroke October 26th, 1993 ended that. I retired on medical-disability. I recovered fairly well.
• The “Mighty Mezz” is the Canandaigua Daily-Messenger newspaper, from where I retired 12 years ago. Best job I ever had — I was employed there almost 10 years —worked there over 11 if you count my time as a post-stroke unpaid intern.
I decided to carry my cheaters in my front shirt pocket. I always need ‘em. “I can’t read that. Where are my cheaters?”
I held out as long as I could, into my 70s. But my vision started degrading. My railfan brother, who accompanies me to Altoona, PA, to photograph trains, turned 60 last year.
He also wears cheaters. His eyesight degraded before mine — probably his genealogy. He also carries his cheaters.
“Wait a minute! I can’t see that!” Out come my cheaters.
“I can’t even sign my name.” I probably could, and often do, but cheaters help.
The ones in my pocket are my ‘pyooter glasses, 1.5X, I have others elsewhere, all 2.5X. I have five 2.5s, all compliments of Canandaigua Eye-Care Center.
I had an insurance benny of $100. Five times $20 is $100. “But I don’t need five pairs of cheaters,” I said.“Your benefit is $100; anything less is out-of-yer-pocket.”
So five pair of drugstore cheaters elegantly dispersed throughout my house, in my car, etc.
Silly as that was, I prefer Eye-Care Center. As a retired RTS bus-driver, I’m entitled to a negotiated vision-care benefit.
PASS! I prefer Eye-Care Center, which is paid by my health insurance.
The reason is Heidi Piper, M.D. , Houghton College, 1987. I could tell she was a Houghton grad as soon as I met her. “Get it right!” Extremely professional, and she cared about what she was doing instead of pulling rank.
I graduated Houghton in 1966.
Prior to Eye-Care, I was using vision-care at an HMO near Rochester, (I don’t know that HMOs exist any more.) They looked in my eyes, and noticed I had a scar.
“You’ll notice the scar,” I informed my Eye-Care Ophthalmologist. They went ballistic. “That’s a retinal tear; you need that fixed right away!”
DROP EVERYTHING! Heidi was brought in to do laser eye surgery. M.D. from St. Louis University School of Medicine, internship at Strong Memorial Hospital in Obstetrics and Gynecology, general surgery and Ophthalmology residencies at Penn State-Geisinger Medical Center, but BS from Houghton. Feet-on-the-ground, no posturing.
Why are so many Houghton graduates like that? I think it was because our professors weren’t elitists. They cared about us, and it rubbed off.
I’ve met a few Houghton grads over the years, and they all weren’t elitists. Feet-on-the-ground. The Executive-Editor at the Mighty Mezz was Houghton 1980.
Even a guy who was a complete jerk at Houghton now has his feet on-the-ground.
So now I’m awash in 2.5X cheaters, and I need ‘em.
When it comes time for cataract surgery I’m gonna advocate for Heidi.
• “RTS” equals Regional Transit Service, the public transit-bus operator in Rochester, NY, where I drove transit-bus for 16&1/2 years (1977-1993). My stroke October 26th, 1993 ended that. I retired on medical-disability. I recovered fairly well.
• The “Mighty Mezz” is the Canandaigua Daily-Messenger newspaper, from where I retired 12 years ago. Best job I ever had — I was employed there almost 10 years —worked there over 11 if you count my time as a post-stroke unpaid intern.
Labels: Houghton College
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