I hate to feel stupid. I have had a life of being, if not the sharpest knife in the drawer, at least one of the sharpest. It is totally frustrating to make mistakes!
These days I have a tendency to read clocks and watches wrong. This morning we were out the door much earlier than we needed to be. We sat and waited much longer than we should have had to. My fault. I read the time wrong.
I suggested to my husband that he should start double checking me. I am not sure he still quite “gets it”. He is used to me running the show. Calling the shots. OK, he is also used to my objecting if he questions me. This ‘goofing up on the simplest things Sue’ is new.
Then I had to have my camera checked. My auto focus wasn’t. I was afraid it was a serious issue. We leave on vacation in a week! I need my camera!
Nope. The problem was I had somehow turned off the auto focus. I did not realize it. I could not see that extra, little switch. My camera guy was going to just tell me about the possibility in an email, but he decided not to. It would be quicker and easier if he just did it. After all, I miss things. I don’t get things. Things have changed for me.
Oh, well, at least my photos will be better. It has been years since I was able to focus a camera. Let the auto focus do it…now that it is on.
Then off to the hospital for blood work. There is a list of names on the monitor on the wall. Look for your name. Yeah. Right. I have to get to about a foot from the monitor to read my damn name. Should i get a chair and park it in front of the monitor? The clerical person suggested I get the pink lady to help. Let the pink lady monitor the monitor…some of the other patients cued me in instead. At the end of the day, most people are exceptionally kind.
Which brings me back around to those stupid mistakes. I guess I need to practice what I preach and accept this is all part of having a degenerative eye disease. Having people in waiting rooms accept my limitations is reasonably easy. They have known me for 30 seconds. What about people who have known me for 30 years?
I ask to have things double checked. People don’t believe I am serious. After all, I “seldom” make mistakes. How many gaffs and screw-ups do they need before they believe me? How long before people understand I am asking for help because I need help!?!?
So, life goes on. It is all a learning curve. Old habits die harder than new. It really does not make sense to expect people to “get it” on the first or second try. I expect as I lose more sight, I will be teaching this “lesson” over and over. It seems to be just the way it gets.
Written March 25th, 2019