A long time ago, although not super long ago, I was a tween who needed eyeglasses. I was a poor child so we needed financial help getting me glasses. We got such assistance and I happily wen to get a new pair of eye glasses. I was excited that I would be able to see. It’s a good thing to be able to have enhanced vision-or at least corrected vision. I was young and surrounded by cruel kids. You know how the schoolyard is. Actually, I wonder how the schoolyard is nowadays. I feel that universally kids c an be cruel. And it can be a game of “survival.” Trying to avoid being bullied. I was not super bullied because I was placed in the gifted class and in the Bronx they kept gifted kids as far away from the “others.”  Occasionally I did have to pass by those “others” and the looks I got were enough to break any weak kid. Luckily, I had a strong constitution and still do. It takes a lot these days to offend me or break me. Not much can. Those days back then were  still tough.

I got my new glasses and they were red. I thought they were so cool. As far as I knew there were no other kids that had red-colored frames. I was so naive. I wore my red glasses one morning and by the end of that school day I didn’t want to ever wear them again. I went from happy to be able to see to just wanting to walk around with no clear vision so that I would not be teased. The kids mercilessly made fun of me for my red-framed glasses. No one else had those and thus I was a “freak” and weird. They chanted Sally Jesse Rafael at me in an attempt to shame me.  I didn’t know at that time who was this Sally Jesse Rafael woman.  Apparently, she was a talk show host known for her talk show program Sally, which she hosted for two decades, and for the bright red over-sized eyeglasses.

I didn’t understand why supposedly looking like a celebrity (or rather wearing glasses that mirrored those of a celebrity) would warrant the taunting I received.

As I grew older, I came across some of my mother’s former eye glasses. I thought them so odd as they had these cat-eye shapes. They were of their past times and not of the current time, or so I thought.  I would look at them and think of how my family was odd, including myself.

Then I grew up. I developed my own sense of style and sense of confidence to accompany my style. My eye-glasses have gotten funkier. I have been having fun with them. I don’t really care what others think. Although, I must say I now get lauded for my great tastes and eye-glasses looks. Has society changed in terms of allowing people to express their styles more openly? What if I were around kids, what would be their reactions? Either way, when I went to the eye doctor two weeks ago my vision was getting blurrier and I desperately needed new glasses. I found a pair that I immediately fell in love with.

I stood up in front of my staff giving my monthly updates. Afterwards, my team members came up to me saying how much they loved my glasses and that I looked like a Los Angelino.  I went from my small brown cat-eyed glasses to large, pink cat-eyes.   And I not only feel fine but am happy.