Continuing on from my question “How many opticians etc.”, I find that I can add yet another line or two.
I had another eye-test. All the usual flash photos and neck-breaking sessions, followed by that good old classic – “Spot the flashing light whilst you have a piece of toilet-paper wrapped around one spectacle lens!”
Then, we had the long drawn-out explanation of past events, emphasizing the fact that the process has been a bit stressful, and that I intended no malice to the current optician. But, what the heck, he got stressed out anyway! I thought that it was myself that had been through a hard time, but no! I was asking the ‘impossible’ again, and stating that the ‘impossible’ had already been achieved was obviously a vicious attack on the optician’s competence. Presumably, people-skills are not a requirement for the average optician. So I told him that I would save us both the hassle and waste of time, and I would go elsewhere. He was not amused, and got a bit snotty. I found out later that my wife refuses to see that particular optician. I value her judgement.
While I was there, I popped in to the last remaining optician in town. Same long story – cut short when they swapped staff, and the story had to be repeated. After reaching the same ‘What you want is impossible’ despite stating that it was ‘possible’, I, in the words of the great ‘News of the World’ reporter, “… made my excuses, and left.”
I sit here, writing this, with tired eyes and a big hole in my bank balance. Only 9,999 opticians left to go. After that, I’ll grind my own lenses. It must surely be easier …