Only one thing of note happened at work in the past couple of weeks, which is that Sarah McLachlan's drummer and husband, Ashwin Sood, bought glasses from us.

I know I said I wouldn't use real names in my journal, but in this case I'll make an exception.  It just felt really awkward to describe him as "the drummer for and husband of a well-known Canadian singer/songwriter," and making up a name for him simply didn't feel right for some reason. (As opposed to using made-up names for people I actually know.  A hypocrite, I am.)  Besides, the story wouldn't have the same feel to it.  and there's nothing remotely disparaging in what I'm about to say.  OK, I'm done justifying myself.

He had been seeing an optometrist in Oregon, of all places, even though he lives here in Vancouver.  I guess he must have really liked the care he got from him.  But he decided he needed to have an optometrist in town as well, so he asked for a recommendation.  It turns out that his optometrist is a friend of Lynda, so Ashwin was referred to her.

Lynda performed the exam at the other clinic where she works, but decided to have us handle the orders for contact lenses and glasses.  And here's where things started to get, uh, interesting.

I've always liked McLachlan's music, long before she became internationally renowned.  I own three of her albums, including her latest studio recording, Surfacing (pictured on the left).  I saw her in twice in concert back when she was performing free shows at the Pacific National Exhibition (in one show she was the opening act for The Grapes of Wrath; that's how long ago it was).  Ashwin being her husband and drummer, as well as having come to us on a recommendation from Oregon, I couldn't help but feel particularly concerned that everything go smoothly.

Murphy's Law in the optical business says that the more worried you are about a job, the more likely it is that things will go wrong.

First of all, the contacts.  Ashwin has a pretty complex prescription, and the type of lenses he wears comes from New York.  When I phoned them, they told me it would take three to four weeks (!) for the contacts to arrive.  Ashwin was a little anxious when he heard this news, but fortunately the lenses only took a little over a week to get here.  He came to pick them up right away, since he needed those urgently.  This part of the story, at least, had a quick and happy resolution.

The glasses arrived from the lab the next day.  I told Lynda that they were in and she phoned Ashwin before I had the chance to verify the prescription and check for imperfections.  Normally, the glasses that come back to us are well within specifications, and checking is just a precaution.  I didn't get the chance to check them until Ashwin had arrived to pick them up, and that's when I discovered the flaw.

The anti-reflection coating on the left lens was warped, in a small but noticeable area that would have been directly in front of his eye.  It's hard to describe, but it kind of looked like the coating had very fine ridges in it - something I've seen in lenses that are several years old, but never in new ones.  The lens would have to be replaced.  Because of his prescription, we were using a special, ultra-thin lens, and it would take even more time than usual.

I uttered an expletive right in front of another patient.

Meanwhile, Ashwin was outside with Lynda showing her his two dogs that were in the back of his truck.  I went outside to give him the bad news.  Fortunately, he seemed to be a very easygoing guy and didn't appear at all upset.  He simply asked me to call him when they were ready.

A week later, the glasses were back from the lab again.  This time I made sure to check them BEFORE I called him.  Everything was fine.  He came in the next day, and tried them on.  The frame - black, plastic, and heavy-looking - was one of Ashwin's and had previously housed sunglass lenses.  He noticed that they felt a lot looser than they had previously, which was because the curvature of the front of the frame had been straightened after the new lenses were inserted.  The only way to rectify this was to apply heat to the bridge using a hot-air frame warmer, and bend the bridge back to it's original shape.  I did this, and tried the frame on him again; this time, it fit beautifully.  All I had to do after that was clean the lenses and we were done.  I applied some spray-cleaner and was in the process of wiping the lenses with a cloth when I noticed it...

I prayed that it was just a stubborn fingerprint smudge, but it wouldn't go away.  It was another flaw.  As a matter of fact, the exact same flaw, a warpage in the anti-reflection coating, and in the left lens again.  I KNOW it wasn't there earlier, so it had to have appeared when I was heating the frame.  The heat must have caused it to warp.

I stared at the glasses.  God, I can't tell him, I just can't.  Maybe if I don't say anything, he won't notice.  No, what am I thinking, of course he'll notice!  I've got to tell him.  Say something!

While I was having this mental dialogue with myself, Ashwin noticed my expression and asked,"Is something wrong?"

Gulp.  "Unbelievably, yes," I responded, and I showed him.  Explained that it hadn't been there before, and that the heat must have caused it.

Again, he was very understanding.  "Maybe this just isn't meant to be," he joked.  I assured him that it was, apologized profusely, and said we'd get the glasses re-done as quickly as possible.

Once again, we sent them out.  Once again, they came back.  This time, everything went according to plan.  The glasses were fine, he came to pick them up, I applied, er, a little less heat than I had before, and they fit nicely.

Despite the comedy of errors, he asked us to have the lenses replaced in another of his frames.  Not only that, but he bought a third frame for himself from our display, right then and there, and asked us to have those made up as well.  Not only is he super nice, he's apparently very trusting!

I'm happy to report that there were no problems with the last two pairs of glasses, which Ashwin picked up today (maybe it's because I didn't dispense them to him personally - I was beginning to feel like I'd jinxed his eyewear).  The new glasses, I'm told, looked quite stunning on him - a small, burgandy-coloured, angular plastic frame that came with a magnetic sunglass clip-on.  He seemed to be very pleased with them.  Apparently, Sarah had this to say when he had tried on his other glasses (the heavy black pair that we had all the mishaps with) for her: "You look like a freak!"  I think she'll like the new ones much better.

So if you happen to be lucky enough to see Sarah McLachlan in concert, pay special attention to the guy behind the drums, and check to see if he's wearing a sleek-looking pair of prescription glasses.  'Cause hey, we dispensed them, you know.