It was a lapse in judgment no more, a common one. The sort that allows for the selection of a wholly inappropriate movie at the cinema or that allows a mother to leave a child in a pram outside a shop only to have said pram roll away, and it was a lapse not unlike these that nonetheless that left a young man blinded.
It seems that in a hasty attempt to grab eye drops from the refrigerator a man has accidentally picked up a bottle of a weak adhesive that had been prepared by the father a little earlier. Alerted by the burning in his right eye that all wasn't right, he panicked.
A visit to the doctor, fuelled by desperation and fear, fear and pain, renders a much-needed consolation; the blindness is temporary. The remedy that is given is simple — one that is built into the very algorithms of nature — namely, tears.
Eventually tears will flush out all traces of the impediment; correct the blurriness and ease the discomfort. But, whether driven by mistrust in the doctor or by regret, the man has yet to find reassurance in these words.
Perhaps this is a good thing as he now cries too much to sleep.
Written on Friday, 30 May 2003