I’M 54 today.
Still sexy.
Still single.
Not loveless, but single.
Not sexless, but single.
I am what I am.
I am the great I am.
***
My eyesight are not the greatest.
I mean, I’m not blind.
But I am nearsighted.
I need eyeglasses to drive.
And to appreciate movies Iike Avatar: The Way of the Water.
And to check out men wearing nothing between their crotch and shorts on their way to watch Avatar.
***
For eye care, I trust my friend Jere Ledesma Cejar.
This is not an infomercial.
If it is, it would include his business address at the Amigo Plaza Mall, ground floor.
I mean, if you can’t find it yourself on first try, you must be blind!
You need to go see Jere.
***
Jere reads Panay News.
And not just the newspaper.
He actually reads my column.
When a mutual friend introduced us a few years before the pandemic, Jere was quick to say that he was a fan of my antics in the newspaper.
I think it was in such meeting that, noticing my eyeglasses, he said that he would be honored to help me with my eye care.
***
I generally pay for my eyewear (unless my sister or some friend calls the frames), so this is not some kind of a promotional piece.
I choose to write about Jere and his optometry service (and small operators/clinicians Iike him) because a lot of people went almost blind during the pandemic.
You can understand why eye-care is not a big priority during the height of the pandemic.
I mean, you heard how cancer is not treated very well because of the pandemic, so that stage 1 rapidly became stage 4, and ultimately resulted to death.
***
Anyway, pandemic.
People glued to their computers, iPhones, iPads, laptops, everything emitting radiation and whatever harmful stuff in excess.
Great for eyesight, right?
Especially exposure for over eight hours daily.
Think online classes, think Zoom meetings.
Think social media and computer games to beat the perceived depression and isolation.
Think editing for freaking TikTok and YouTube!
***
So, people feel the eye strain.
Got seeing or sight problems.
Maybe blurry or double visions, and whatever else.
Of course, they go to cheap optical centers.
Cheapest optical centers that can promise quick eyeglasses, free consultations, at a much lower cost.
And they can lower the cost because they’re big companies with branches nationwide.
***
Now, questions:
Can free always be as good as paid?
Can quick always be as good as careful?
Can cheap always be as safe as safety-before-profit?
***
Jere is around my age.
So, get that right: in his 50s, and has worked nearly (if not over) 30 years in his profession.
He is not a fresh grad or newly licensed optometrist hired by a big company during the pandemic.
He is not cheaply paid by a national company to do a so-so job of checking people’s eyes, and giving a so-so service during the pandemic.
***
It happens that some people misdiagnose, or miscalculate, or mistreat.
Can you sue someone (who served you with a free consultation) for making you almost blind during the pandemic?
If I were the young optometrist in a nationwide optical chain, I will blame your gadget use.
I will blame the big volume of clients (—everybody going for cheap and free).
But I will never assume responsibility.
Oh, poor you!
***
No, as #ThePSN, I will not solve your eye-care problems today.
You always have a choice.
My public service, and I guess, by extension, that of Panay News, is to tell you responsibly that there’s unscrupulous optical service, and there’s one with a mission like Jere’s practice.
Jere’s, and all those small optical shops that are being eaten up alive by big multi-branch national corporations.
Please do not force me to name them.
If you can’t see through them, you are blind!/PN
