Thursday, November 18, 2010

Eye of the Beholder

"What's wrong with your eye?"

The coworker who said this was leaning forward, a note of genuine concern in her voice.

"Nothing, as far as I know," I replied. Neither eye was sore--or, more accurately, no more sore than anyone's eyes would be after putting in a 16-hour day on Monday and a few more hours of OT spread over Tuesday and Wednesday.

I didn't doubt my coworker's word, though. I was tired from the tips of my ugly toes to the last strand of semi-gray hair on my semi-gray head, so why wouldn't my eyes--the primary tools of my trade--be just as weary, if not more so?

Still, these things aren't to be taken lightly. I thanked my coworker for pointing out the crimson hew behind my glasses, grabbed the Visine from my backpack and headed for the bathroom.

Sure enough, my left eye was bright red. Didn't hurt at all, but looked like somebody had punched me. Then again, my whole body felt like I'd been punched more than once in the last few weeks.

It's a most unpleasant sensation, exhaustion is--rather like being perpetually hung over without having had the relative pleasure of getting drunk in the first place.

1 comment:

JB said...

Sounds like you may have subconjunctival hemorrhage (simply put: broken blood vessel in the eye). I know from what I speak. My gig dictates that I stare at a computer screen most of each work day, so my eyes grow strained and tired. At that point, a careless rub of my eyes can easily break a blood vessel, and I'm left looking like a character in a Basil Gogos drawing. Doesn't hurt, doesn't burn, isn't a serious condition, goes, away within a week, LOOKS LIKE HELL.