Eye exams make me insecure.

With multiple choice tests you stand a chance of getting at least some of the answers right. For me, multiple choices bring on second-guessing. This situation is not a confidence-booster at the eye doctor’s office while being examined before purchasing hundreds of dollars worth of glasses and contacts. The doctor clicks that giant face-mask-like black contraption with the eye-holes into place and asks, this one or this one?

Me: Uh…

Doc: A or B?

Me: A. No, B. I’m not sure.

Doc: Number 1 or 2?

Me: I think 2. No, could I see 1 again?

What is so tough about this? Am I worried that choosing the wrong letter or number will disappoint the teacher, I mean doctor? Glimpses of the past, of not living up to someone else’s expectations? Oh Lordy, here comes that machine thing again and now there’s also a number 3.

Next there’s the wall chart, accompanied by a feeling that I’m somehow a disappointment because I can’t read that last line.

I always wonder, after leaving the eye doctor’s office, was it my lame guesswork that determined my new prescription, or does the eye doctor’s knowledge somehow compensate for my insecurity about this whole process?

Right now my eyes are dilated so I can’t see squat, but when the effects of these eye drops wear off, will my brand new, very chic and very expensive glasses reflect my possibly incorrect choices, or the doctor’s skills?