Once is enough

I dated a guy in college who frequently proclaimed that he would try anything, once. While I like the philosophy, I can't say that I can wholeheartedly adopt this approach. There are exceptions, after all, at least for me.

What immediately pops in my mind, red flag waving, are: bungee jumping, eating haggis, and lasik eye surgery.

I took my friend J to her lasik eye surgery. It was her second surgery - they needed to make adjustments. Curious fool that I am, I took advantage of the special waiting room where you can watch the procedure on television. I thought I could do it, push my queasiness boundary & see something cool. I expected the 20 inch tv to show J's entire face, but instead the camera was mounted on the surgeon's head - so I had a bird's eye view of an 18-19 inch eyeball. Too much eyeball. It was disgusting. For the girl (me) who took three hours to put her contacts in for the first time in 9th grade, it was traumatic. (After all, as kids we're told not to touch our eyes, then suddenly they want us to put foreign objects in them. Inconceivable.)

I tried to play it cool, tried to read a magazine and shift my body so I wasn't facing the giant eye that was clamped open, a scalpel pulling back part of the eye. In the end I had to hold my magazine up to completely block the giant eye. I know it was wimpy - but even thinking about it now spooks me out. Adding to my repulsion was the fact that an office employee sat down beside me, drinking a Coke and watching the procedure - like it was Mister Rogers Neighborhood or something. Yuck!!

Granted, not having to pop contacts in or put the glasses on to see would be nice, but till it's non-invasive - I'll stick with the specs.