20-10 VISION

20-10 VISION

Roger A. Davis

Throughout the summer, I had been boasting about my good eyesight to fellow employees (summer help, college and senior high school level). I was once checked to have 20-10 vision. When I tell people, they usually associate 20-20 as good and 20-10 as the worst. Yet, in fact, 20-100 is worse than 20-20. I usually have to produce evidence of a physical feat to convince fellow employees of my prowess. Like seeing the wheat trucks coming a mile and a half away, when they, themselves, cannot. Remember, we are talking about flat Central Kansas that has gorgeous sunrises and sunsets because of these skyline vistas.

In Kansas, every four years, you renew your driver’s license. Upon entering the examiner’s office, I turned in the open book written test and, because I was renewing, I only had to take the eyesight test, pay the fees and get a new picture taken for my license.

I stepped up to the counter with the eye testing machine and ask her to crank it down to the most difficult eyesight reading test level, which she did. This old Kansas mountain man read the test without any errors. Feeling pretty smug, I could hardly wait to get back and tell those young kids that the old man is still ahead in one area over the youth of today.

While waiting for the photo, a young woman of 16 and her dad came in for her first license. She, being very nervous, dropped the form, giggling and couldn’t sit still. They completed the paperwork and the only thing left before the driving test was the eye test. She went up to the machine and the examiner asked her to read the letters. She paused and paused and backed away, looked at the examiner and said she couldn’t make out any letters. The examiner asked whether she wore glasses. The young lady said that she didn't. Then the clerk remembered that she had not turned the machine back to the normal setting. After she did, the girl passed the test and exclaimed, “I thought I was blind and flunked!”

We all laughed and this elevator man had a tall tale for the rest of the summer.