Tuesday, September 28, 2004

strange conversations beget strange trips

i should have known, when i found out i was going to hong kong again, that i would experience another out-of-body conversation just prior to the trip, much like one of my favorite phone conversations with a customer care representative, or whatever you call them these days.

two days before my departure, i was at the eye center, waiting to have my eyes refracted. i wanted to bring fresh disposable contacts to hong kong, ya see, and i wanted to make sure i was getting the correct ones. so i wouldn't have to remove my lens prior to having my eyes checked (if you have never tried wearing contacts, take my word for it: taking them out is a bit of a hassle -- a downright pain if you have eyestrain and spent most of the day in an airconditioned environment that can make your eyes as dry as the sahara at noon: it's like tearing off your corneas), i wore my glasses. if you somehow missed that, let me reiterate -- i wore my glasses.

the lady from the eye center got my record sheet from the files and proceeded to ask me her routine questions: "are you the 'de guzman' from pasig?" "are you going to have your eyes checked today (ok, that was strange already)?" and ...

"are you wearing your contact lens right now?"

i answered by blankly staring at her through my fingerprint-stained glasses. so she followed up with another amazing question: "... or are you wearing glasses?"

hong kong is going to be great, i can tell.

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