I had a mantra when I was “Movin’ On” from paid employment: I wanted to be much more technologically competent and confident. I’ve worked hard at that. Not all technology is my friend, though. I need to see a significant benefit before I delve into the electronic abyss.

I recently had an experience I didn’t think much about before adopting the benefits.

As I aged, I noticed my vision was worsening. The big highway road signs were hard to see in advance, and the glare from headlights impacted the level of concentration I had to give to my night driving.

Time for a trip to the optometrist to update my prescription.

“I’m sorry, Glenn, but you have cataracts in your left eye,” he said. “You’ll need to address that before we provide you with a new prescription. “

I had cataracts removed in my right eye several years before, so I had some idea what to expect.

I tracked down the surgeon who performed my first cataracts. I was pleased with the process and the result. I passed the contact info to the optometrist receptionist, who confirmed she would forward the documents within a few days.

I’ve learned not to trust technology or medical systems to transfer information in a timely manner. I’ve heard so many stories from friends about problems. So, after 10 days, I called the surgeon’s office to check that they had received my papers.

“Sorry. No, we haven’t received anything yet.”

Back to the optometrist’s office.

“Oh, your surgeon isn’t doing operations anymore,” the receptionist said nonchalantly.

Like hell he isn’t, I thought to myself.

“Oh, I just checked last week, and he is,” I said equally nonchalantly.

I persevered and continued to place follow-up calls at each step.

I waited about 5 months for the surgery. Visited the surgeon the morning following the surgery for a check-in. Then, I had a final check-in at 3 weeks.  I received a clean bill of health. I waited another 3 weeks for my eyes to settle, and then I picked up my prescription and bought my glasses from Second Specs at a kiosk in the mall. I had bought my previous glasses there. As an aside, I paid $375, all in.

At the beginning of this blog, I mentioned that I didn’t pay attention to all the technology involved. My previous optometrist, who was older, noted that when he was in school, the ’best practice’ if someone had cataracts was not to tell the patient they would go blind eventually, as there was nothing they could do for them!

I don’t want to take the ubiquitous advances in technology for granted.

And now, after painless outpatient surgery, my vision was restored to better than 20/20 at a price I could afford. I see wrinkles on my face and those of my friends I hadn’t seen before.

Please give this a bit of a think. Can you identify any technology that you’ve forgotten you adopted or accepted? Do you wear glasses? Do you have an aversion to a specific technology?

I am curious about your thoughts. Please comment below or email me directly with your bit of a think.

Photo by David Travis on Unsplash

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glenn.walmsley@icloud.com