I Gotta Get Outta This Place

It's been six months since I've worked on a show. Tulipomania was a nice break from the daily "stay at homeness" but it wasn't enough. I'm so ready to start rehearsals on The Seafarer.

For a while, staying at home was great: reading the paper, taking yoga classes, cleaning out closets, seeing movies. My running has improved, I'm up to five miles regularly and six if the stars are aligned.

But I think being alone is starting to wear on me. I might be going a bit crazy. Social interactions are starting to frighten me. Oh, I volunteer at my kids' school and talk to people in yoga but it's not enough.

This past week I took both kids to their annual check-up. During the visit I asked the doctor about my daughter's amblyopia or lazy eye; basically she's blind in her right eye. She had worn glasses but an opthamologist said she didn't need them anymore. He said I should have her checked again to be sure.

Then when he was checking my son, he thought he noticed some strange wanderings in his right eye and suggested I get my son checked for amblyopia. This is rather funny because my son is adopted and my daughter is biological so it's definitely coincidence as opposed to genetic.

At the end of the visit, the doctor reminded me to have their eyes checked then said he was going to give them a vision screening. Why? I don't know, I just do what I'm told.

The nurse came in and said, "Are you ready?" I said, "Yes." She left the room and returned and said, "Are you coming?" I stood up and ushered my children out of that room and into another room apologizing profusely for not understanding that 'Are you ready?' meant 'Come with me.'

When my daughter took her test, the nurse asked her to cover up her left eye. I realized this when my daughter could not read any of the lines. I quickly jumped in with, "Oh, she can't see out of her right eye."

The nurse gave me an astonished look that clearly read, 'And why are you wasting my time.'

Apologizing again, I got my children out of there. But why was I apologizing? I didn't order the vision screening.

I couldn't get that little encounter out of my mind; I keep playing it over and over again wondering why I apologized. Truly, listening to NPR all day does not prepare one for social encounters in the real world. I need some live human interactions and I need them fast!

Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to rant...