He joined the United for Vision Club only a month ago, but has now become the most vocal member of the group. “I am contesting for the post of president,” he said. “President!” I exclaimed. “You’ve just joined our club and you hardly know the terrain. How can you successfully lead an organisation that you know little or nothing about?,” I inquired.
Just then, all the young men and women started the popular chorus, “All we are saying, give us Tracy.” I was gripped by fear and covered by cold sweats. I had no doubt that Tracy as President would spell the death knell of our club. The youth were clearly in the majority and if elections were to be held Tracy would certainly win.
All the older members present were unanimous that Tracy was not the messiah we needed at this time. But in a democratic setting, the majority always carry the day. “Is the majority always right?” I asked myself. Time will tell. “Let them have their way,” all the old people quietly agreed.
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There was a gentle tap on my shoulders. “Doctor, wake up,” Tamuno is giving today’s presentation.” I yawned, stretched out my arms and readjusted myself in my seat. “You mean Tracy?” I asked the intruder. “Who is Tracy?,” asked Little John in return, somewhat surprised at the mix-up. “You must have been dreaming sir. Tamuno not Tracy,” he added. Yes indeed. I had been in a trance.
“Tamuno, please, take the floor,” I requested. He was wearing a pair of dark glasses which prevented me from seeing his eyes. As he got up from his seat, something told me he had an interesting story to tell. His smiling face suddenly tensed up as he asked, “Am I going blind?” He looked around and repeated the question again. “Tracy,” as my subconscious still preferred to call him, is obviously an orator and it seemed he really had a story to tell!
“The first hint of any problem with my eyes was when I was about 19 years old and in my first year in the university. I discovered I couldn’t see the blackboard clearly. At the university health centre I was told to see an eye doctor. I can remember the day I got my first pair of glasses. I saw the world as never before.
“I could now understand why friends used to think I was snobbish because they always had to greet me first having recognised me from afar off. Now it was the reverse! My whole life changed. I could stay in the house and read novels all day and was never keen on outdoor activities. Now I enjoyed watching football live.
“My glasses and I were inseparable. I had them changed after three years because they were scratched. The new pair was even a lot better than the old. By the time I was 40, I had changed them many times, sometimes just to conform to fashion trends. Just a few weeks to my 41st birthday, I began to have difficulty punching out numbers on my mobile phone or reading the Bible with my glasses on. I was told I had presbyopia. This was said to be the effect of age on the eyes.
“It is not a disease,” the doctor had said. He changed my glasses to bifocals and I was happy. But then I had difficulty using my computer or playing golf. He advised me to change to progressive lenses. “The bifocals take care of two distances, far and near. Your computer is in the intermediate distance, so you need lenses that would gradually change focus from distance to intermediate and then near,” he had explained.
“Suddenly, like a thunderbolt, I had a painless loss of vision in my right eye and a few days later in my left. My doctor asked, “Are you a sickler, hypertensive or diabetic?” “No sir,” I replied confidently. He examined my eyes with a special instrument and told me I had tears in my retina. “Tears!” I screamed? “How did my retina get torn?” I asked again.
All of a sudden, there was a big commotion outside and we all ran for safety. A few minutes later, things became quiet, but Tamuno and a few others were nowhere to be found! Tamuno must continue his story next week. If nothing else, I’ll like to know the secret behind his pair of dark sunglasses.
and then