Blog From A Broad

the eyes have it

I went for an eye exam today for the first time in three years, and decided to avoid the big chain stores and go to an independent optometrist instead. One thing I learned in the past few months is that surgeons and specialists here are called "Mr." here instead of "Dr." (what's the female equivalent, by the way? Mrs? Miss?) To my North American self, it sounds like I got some guy who hasn't made it through med school yet, or due to staff shortages, one of the janitors had to fill in for the morning.

Mr. S did my eye test today and I was not terribly impressed. I had to bring Jack with me, and I thought he was treated a bit like a small suitcase rather than a human baby. Mr. S told me that I could leave Jack by the door and never even glanced at him the entire time. When Jack started crying, he said "You might want to pick him up and wind [burp] him." Thank you for your sage advice. Mr. S scolded me slightly for waiting three years between exams, even after I explained that I didn't go last year because I found out I was pregnant around the time I would have gone in (pregnancy can alter your vision, so it's not usually advisable to get an eye test done). I've got to go back and get a contact lens fitting done on Saturday, however the appointment is with a Miss F. Perhaps she'll be a bit more personable.

The whole reason why I didn't go to the major chain store - oh sod it, it was Specsavers - was because I thought they were slightly rude and standoffish. I've dealt with the shops in Cambridge and Huntingdon, and the customer service was fairly poor at both locations. I thought I would have better service at an independent optometrists, but so far, it's not been the case. Friends have complained to me about bad service at various opticians; perhaps it's the norm for the profession. Huntingdon has four opticians on the high street so I have other alternatives. Mind you at the rate I'm going now, it'll take me 12 years before I can give a verdict on all of them.

I'll have to get back to you on this one.