[member=19746]Untidy Shop[/member] Glad you are coming along ok. I have filed the pics you showed before your surgery. I had promised you I would send a story about a blind biker. I looked thru my files and finally found it. My dad was a stubborn type of guy. I think he got that from his eldest son. The story is true and in retrospect, we all can see the humor of the situation, even tho a bit scary at the moment. It is interesting to know how much improvement in eye surgery has occurred in the last thirty years >>> or in the last 39 years 8)
“Tink, you have to do something.” It was my step mother at the other end of my phone. She had called in an absolute panic and had explained that my dad, who lived on Long Island had found his way across town to a Sears store. The trip involved several miles of main roads with fairly heavy weekend traffic. He had suddenly decided he wanted a bicycle. Why he wanted a bike was a mystery. After all, he was legally blind from the fairly advanced condition called macular degeneration.
He had explained his condition to me a couple of years before when it had first shown its ugly symptoms. Back in those days, practically prehistoric from 21st century, there was not much that could be done to eliminate such a problem. I knew all about eye problems that could not be eliminated. Let’s just say ‘I had been a maverick until at 12, I was operated on to correct my eye problem.' The problem was only partially corrected in that cosmetically, I no longer had to fight my way thru life. My peers no longer got such horrified looks when looking at me face to face. Those problems all disappeared when the docs pulled the bandages off. The main problem I was left with was double vision. I literally saw two of everything. Since that time, I had been to several eye docs who, always, told me I was about ten years too old for a “corrective operation”. Ten years later, I was again ten years too old for any “correctional procedure”. It always seemed the only progress in eye surgery was in the language of discouragement. I decided I would live with my problem.
Dad was developing a progressive eye problem at a time when nothing could be done. Now, somewhere around 30 years later, I am told that if caught early, the disease can not only be possibly stopped, but actually, in some situations, it can actually be reversed. At the time of my stepmom’s panic stricken call, nothing could be done about the condition. As soon as I got her calmed down, I called Sears.
After getting a little bit of the good old fashioned “run-around” I finally got to talk with the manager of the bicycle department. The attitude that came back to me was the bicycle was now my dad’s responsibility. “He is responsible for his own self and he is old enough to know whether or not he is capable to ride the bike home.” I could almost see the smug look at the far end of the line. That reply had come even after I had explained that my father was legally blind. That little problem seemed inconsequential to the young manager.
“Before I hang up,” I calmly went on, “there is one more thing you need to know.” I was becoming totally calm as I took a deep breath and a short pause so I was certain I had the man’s total attention. “I am just a young landscaper (I had already been 39 years young for quite a few years) so I really don’t know much about people. You must realize that my dad’s stepson is an insurance broker.” Further pause while I let that sink in. “I am sure he will have some thoughts about the matter. If he is not able to come up with any ideas, my dad’s step son in law is an attorney whose brother happens to be a prosecutor in the New York City Court system. You can ask my dad about those people. I am sure he can expand with a little more information.” I then wished the manager “…a good day with your thoughts,” and hung up.
All I had told the young manager was true with one exception. There was no family connection to any prosecutor. Oh well, when one gets to be 39, I guess some lee-way must be allowed now and then. Within 10 minutes, my stepmom called to tell me the bike was being delivered, along with my dad, of course. Once unloaded in his garage, that bike never moved again as long as Dad lived.
Stephen, you and I are so very fortunate in that the medical proceedures have so far advanced from way back when. Take good care of yourself and you will look back with a chuckle when you tell your story 30 years down the line.
Tinker
.) He told me what nutrients to take and how often. I have been following his advice ever since and so far, the condition he spotted has not progressed. He seemed very upset when he told me about the problem, but i told him I had expected the news a few years earlier. When my dad had the problem, even tho he was doing very intricate and fine detailed work, he found ways to continue working for sometime after he was declared legally blind. (He inherited his cantankerous was from his eldest son)
