By Mark Miner

My retina was scratched this morning.  I tried and tried to put in my left contact, but it hurt too much.  Bespectacled, I left for the foundry in the dark of the morning.  I was continually taking them off.  I'd walk into a building, doff my hardhat, and pull my safety glasses off...except then I couldn't see.  Habits die hard.  The drive home wasn't too bad, although it was westbound.  I mused as I drove, occasionally tuning in to NPR to hear the latest political ramble and the sporadic news.  Wearing my glasses gave me a different perspective on life, one much more vulnerable and closer to the reality of who I am.  Spectacles provide such a limited window to the world, though within that window you have clarity.  Sort of like a skillset.  Training and education provide you with distinctly limited, but very clear, windows into the world.  Me playing tennis, for instance, is like going without glasses.  Muddled, indistinct, fumbling, and doomed to catastrophe.  Mechanical engineering is a good pair of spectacles for me.  I can see a fair bit of the material world, and understand it passably properly.  Of course, the best way to see as much of the world as you can is to keep learning.  Formally, informally, taking up sports or hobbies, whatever it may be, I know I always need an extra pair or two of glasses.

 

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