Should Have Gone To …

Dear O'H dear and Lovely Tea Jenny,

Eldest Mini Princess had a routine eye test today.

We were introduced to Ben, a new optometrist. My initial concern was that Ben was about 12 and the only reason he was there was because he was on holiday from school.

Turns out that Ben, although lovely, is further along the spectrum than most of my colleagues. I think he had been given ‘Conversation for Dummies’ to help him ‘chat’ to patients.

His rapid fire questions (in a monotone voice) started…

‘So, you are Eldest Mini Princess. Are you still in education?’

(She is 14!)

‘Which year are you in?’

‘Do you like school?’

‘What are your hobbies outside school?’

‘Is cello hard?’

‘How do you spell cello?’

He then stated asking the usual health related questions…

‘Have you noticed any changes on your eyesight?’

With a turn for the sinister…

‘Have you had a hospital visit specifically related to your eyes?’

‘Have you experienced any strange or concerning symptoms?’

And then later, he obviously felt he should go to the next level of chat and asked about what she was going during the school holidays. She explained that she was going to visit her grandparents for a couple of days.

‘Are your grandparents close?’

‘Do you see them often?’

‘Do you enjoy seeing them?’

At the end, he gave her the usual printout with the outcome of the examination (no prescription).

‘This is for you. I am legally obliged to provide this to you. You can do whatever with it. Thank you so much for coming in. Yes, thank you for coming in for a test. Thank you’.

I had threatened to pull faces to make her laugh during the examination but I couldn’t even look at her in case we both lost it.

I can’t wait for my next eye test. Ben is comedy gold.


C