The following paragraphs may or may not be in the most logical order. You may be asked questions about the logical order of the paragraphs, as well as where to place sentences logically within any given paragraph.

“Eye” Can See You!

Imagine, if you can, sticking a clear, semi-rigid dime into each of Q1  your eyes. As a ninth-grader in the early 60s, that’s what I felt I will be doing Q2 with my first pair of contact lenses. In those days, wearing contact lenses was, truly a novelty.  Q3  “Hard lenses,” as they are called, is an apt description of those things, and equally so of the frustration they cause in the pursuit of clear vision.

I was diagnosed in third grade as being near-sighted and astigmatic .  Q4  My teacher had noticed that something was wrong because I stood about a foot away from a classroom projection screen in order to read the captions on the science slides. In those days, we learned Q5  through a sequence of picture slides the teacher would narrate, kind of like a rudimentary Q6 computer presentation. While most students thrilled to see the teacher dim the lights and fire up the projector, I was sunk Q7 in my seat to avoid her attention once the time inevitably came to read aloud the fine print so fuzzy in the distance.

[1] When I was finally fitted with my first glasses at age eight, I remember thinking how cheated I had been in my young life; I had no idea that most people could see as clearly as I began to that day! [2] It was dizzying walking out of the optometrist’s office. [3] Objects were suddenly more rigid and linear; colors seemed more intense and striking. [4] For eight years, everything around me had been one big blur and I hadn’t a clue! [5] I felt so alive! [6] My eyeglasses became a sort of lifeline, the first thing I put on and the last thing I took off every day. Q8

Although they represent a less dramatic change, my first contact lenses six years later at Q9 once again sharpened my focus and heightened my senses. Wearing contact lenses, however, took some adjustment; several weeks were required to build calluses on the underside of each eyelid. Putting those saucers in each eye also proved a challenge. Regardless, Q10 the old lenses were much thicker than today’s contact lenses.

While applying the lenses to each eye was difficult, they were easy to pop out,  Q11 especially when you least expected them to. There is nothing like fishing a contact lens out of a toilet bowl or Q12 gingerly using the stopper to retrieve a lens from the wall of the bathroom sink drain. I probably lost and found at least a dozen lenses in the first two years of wearing them. Since I was virtually blind without my contacts, my immediate reaction was always to cry out for help in locating the missing lens.

I can still remember one day sitting in the back row in algebra class surrounded by several classmates. I glanced up quickly at the teacher when, in a flash, out came a lens. I could sense it falling to the tile floor certainly Q13  in the path of some kid’s foot. I tried working my way to the floor as discreetly as possible, palms down.  Q14 Suddenly, my chair’s metal legs slipped a few inches on the waxy floor and I landed right on top of my precious lens with a thud, crushing it to oblivion. I had gotten my new contacts only three days earlier. How would I explain this to my mother? She had already questioned my maturity for months before buying me this latest pair. Q10