New
glasses
I
didn't want anyone to notice that my shirt was dirty, so I shone a
flashlight on my face. By keeping the flashlight hidden behind the
table I hoped that nothing seemed out of the ordinary as the waiter
approached me.
"I'll
have chicken and vegetables," I said.
"Rice or potatoes?"
"Rice."
"Anything to drink?"
"Just water."
"Thank you. The meal includes a salad," the waiter replied.
I
was pleased that the waiter's gaze had remained at the level of my
face. However, just before disappearing into the kitchen, he commented,
"I too used to play horror movies when I was a child. Undeniably
the impression is horrifying when you illuminate the face from below.
I must say, however, that it works even better in the dark."
Embarrassed
I turned off the light. I then remained seated waiting for my meal.
In
the opposite table there was a loud party of four women dressed in
formal urban style. I could easily hear everything they said. The
women clearly didn't know each other very well, as they strove to
impress each other. One had managed to make a good business deal,
the other had had a fantastic trip to northern Italy, whereas the
third had bought a rare make-up lotion in a top fashion store, and
so on.
Now,
ready to leave, they rose from the table. But as they were so caught
up in their conversation, they didn't notice me fetching salad but,
instead, walked straight on me. Robust and large in size, one of them
flattened me to the floor as we both fell down, with my glasses struck
underneath her skirt.
"I'm
sorry, I didn't notice you at all," she apologized as she rose
off me.
"It's okay," I replied, although I wasn't sure that I had
remained intact from the pressing power.
Luckily,
I didn't feel any excruciating pain. But when I collected my glasses,
I noticed that they were bent at several points. The lenses were skewed
and they didn't feel comfortable when I tried to put them on. Only
three weeks ago I had purchased the titanium frames with thinned lenses.
It took a while to get accustomed to them. Now they were broken, twisted,
and unusable.
I
finished my lunch and went home to see if I could repair my glasses.
I tried to twist the rims back to their correct position, but this
only made things worse. Parts protruded, whose existence I was not
even aware of. I washed the spectacles under the tap, but the lenses
nearly came off, revealing black colored leather, which was now damaged
by the moisture. The glasses seemed utterly destroyed, as if they'd
been laying in a dump for years.
I
returned to the city centre so as to bring the glasses to the optician.
The optician wondered why the lenses had extra leather parts. He then
removed the frayed pieces, straightened the rims, polished the lenses,
and put the glasses back in my face.
"There,"
said the optician. "Just like new."
