Boring, Inane Trivia About Glasses, Spectacles Etc

Blogs are often said to be self-indulgent, boring, filled with trivia, a waste of time etc etc. The blogger just goes on and on yakking about his personal life to an extent that no one cares about. Nothing constructive or useful or informative is offered. Let's take a look at this example:

Why do some women persist in thinking they look less attractive when they're wearing their glasses?

YOU would think - nay, hope - that when a woman reaches a certain age, she'd have more serious things to occupy her mind than to be vain about her looks.

Guess it doesn't apply to me, at least not yet.

I've had recurring styes in my right eye over the past month, and two weeks ago, an especially bad one appeared.

An angry, red lump popped up on my upper eyelid, and as the week went by, it got bigger.

I went to see an eye doctor who said an old sty had probably overhealed and there was now tissue growth in its place.

He gave me an ointment and antibiotics and told me to wait to see if the lump would shrink. If not, it could be removed in a minor operation.

Meanwhile, he said, stop wearing your contact lenses.

For good measure, he added that he saw many patients who had severe eye problems because their contact lenses were dirty or they had over-used them. The really bad ones needed corneal transplants.

I was suitably frightened.

Two days later, a dot of pus appeared on my lump. It grew bigger and heavier, then, thankfully, burst and drained itself. My eyelid started to heal.

Meanwhile, it was no contact lenses for a while but the weekend was coming up and I had appointments to keep.

Thing is, I'm shy about being seen in my glasses.

It's irrational, I know, but I feel self-conscious and unattractive in them, and it doesn't help that I have very bad myopia - 800 degrees - and my glasses have the thickness of a Coke bottle.

What's wrong with me? Why do I allow two tiny pieces of glass held by a wire frame to affect my sense of self-worth?

Besides, I love wearing sunglasses and have many pairs.

Far from feeling dorky when I wear them, sunglasses give me attitude. Depending on their shape, they can make me feel Jackie O-sophisticated or Liz Hurley-glamorous or Paris Hilton-tarty.

Is it down to coloured lenses then? Why should specs be okay if they are rose-tinted, but when the glass is clear, I dare not face the world?

Am I that insecure?

I'M probably not the only woman around who doesn't like her specs.

That's only about half of it. Yes, only half. I deleted the rest of it to save you from falling asleep. The writer goes on and on and on, yakety yakety yak yak yak, about spectacles and contact lenses and prescription lenses with colours etc etc. Utterly boring.

What would this blogger say, in her own defence? How would she respond to Mr Wang? Probably something like this:

"Hey Mr Wang, this is just my personal blog. It's like my own diary. Here I write whatever I want, just for myself, and that includes my whimsical mutterings, if so I please. If you don't like reading my blog, then go away and read some other blog lor. Or go and read some serious article in the mainstream media lah, like the Straits Times."

Fair enough. Mr Wang would agree.

Except that the long, winding, boring article about glasses, contact lenses etc etc did NOT come from a blog. Nope.

It came from none other than the Straits Times itself. Published on 23 October 2005, and written by ST columnist Sumiko Tan. Aptly entitled "Making a Spectacle of Yourself".

Hahahaaa.

So the next time some ST journalist accuses bloggers of being inane, self-indulgent, boring, self-navel-gazing etc etc, well, just remember what Mr Wang pointed out to you today.

And don't forget, ST journalists don't even have the same excuse as bloggers. Journalists draw a salary and they're paid to bring you news. Real news. They're not supposed to say:

"Hey Mr Wang, this is just my personal space. The Straits Times is like my own private diary. In this newspaper, I write whatever I want, just for myself, and that includes my whimsical mutterings, if so I please. If you don't like reading my articles, then go away and read something else lor."