broken down glasses

if you've seen me in the last, let's say, two years, it's likely that you've seen me wearing at least partially broken glasses. it started with the frames loosening from my first pair and the lens occasionally popping out. eventually, that lens became a casualty of the country music scene (don't ask), and a new pair of glasses was purchased. the second pair started it's decline when the screw on the right side fell out. i fixed that pretty easily with three staples and a pair of wirecutters, but the improved glasses proved rather remarkable in the sense that i got a lot of remarks about them, generally in jest.

the glasses suffered another big hit in DC last summer. i 'fell asleep' on them, and the brokenness became bent brokenness. i readjusted the staples, but they never fully recovered from that incident. then came taiwan, and i swear this one wasn't my fault, but the right lens popped right out one day in class. it probably had something to do with all the previous bending and staple-shoving. luckily, the lens sort of popped back in. for a few months, i glued it. eventually i gave up the glue and just relied on the shape of the frame to hold it together. every once in a while, the lens would pop out in class again and the kids would laugh. hey, at least i have their attention.

a few days ago, however, the axe finally fell. i was driving down the street on my motorscooter on a rather windy day. suddenly, bam, the lens popped out again and hit me in the head. ouch, right? but the worst part was finding it. luckily, it was pretty early in the day and not so busy, so i parked the scooter between some buses and walked back to search the street. and i found it! wow! unfortunately, it was rather scratched up and chipped and a little bit broken. needless to say, it was clear it wasn't going to comply with my demands much longer. i had to drive home mayo (w/out) glasses, find my sunglasses, and drive back to the glasses store.

therefore, ever since the scooter 'accident', ive been walking around like an optical frankenstein with a scratched up, chipped and a little bit broken lens that flies out of its precarious home and hits me in the head again with every strong gust of wind or overzealous taiwanese child. tomorrow, however, im picking up my new glasses. they just happen to be the first ones i ever had and broke years ago, reincarnated. you should have seen the lady when i brought them to her. even better, you should have seen her face when i showed her the second pair...