I had my eyes checked yesterday, and I think I figured out why young people can find us so damned annoying.
Before I actually saw the doctor, a young female assistant named Tiffany or perhaps Amber took me into a prep room to do the puff test and some other pre-screening activities. She popped me in front of the OptoMap Retinal Exam machine, and I said, "Oh, this is the Opto thing. I don't want this test."
I view it as just another revenue stream for the vision care place not a medical necessity.
She said, oh! We do it anyway, and if you choose not to have the doctor read it, then you don't have to pay for it.
I said, oh! Since I am not going to have the doctor read it, let's move on, please.
Tiff was not amused.
Then we get into the actual examination room, and she calls up my records on the computer. She said, "We'd like to dilate your eyes today."
I said I'd rather not if I can help it. I've got to get to work. She huffed and puffed and said, well, the doctor might ask that you make another appointment, because the OptoMap and dilation are the only ways to measure the health of the eye.
To this I replied ever so politely, "Thank you. I'll be sure to ask the doctor about that."
He comes in, and I said I'd rather not have my eyes dilated because I had to get to work, but if he thought I needed to, I would listen to his reasoning. He didn't seem wigged out by that at all. He said, well, let's take a look. He did the eye exam and blasted a bright light here, there and everywhere and finally said my eyes looked great. See you next year.
Not to disrespect any professional, but really? I'm just supposed to do whatever you say? I understand there are risks associated with my choices, and I accept those risks. I'm not mean or nasty. I simply ask questions and state my preferences. My husband asked his dentist and his dental hygienist how much radiation exposure was in his dental x-rays, and I think they are both still in the fetal position.
We are smarter and stronger and less fearless than we once were. We have the skills and the courage to ask questions and speak up. To pull our own strings. These are qualities young people are still developing, and sometimes they get annoyed that we already have it. Yay for us.
