packing mags

I sat next to a thirty-something firefighter this morning and was having a little trouble reading a piece of paper. He offered to take it across the room so I could see it better. He has a good sense of humor. Then he said to me that they are "packing magnifying glasses" in the firetruck these days. "Seems to me," he leaned back in his chair, "that if someone needs a magnifying glass to read a map, maybe he shouldn't be driving." He went on to make some reference to these older guys needing help carrying the hoses anyway. 

I could read without glasses much longer than many of my peers, but when the eyes changed, they did quickly and it's simply an annoyance. I tuck an old pair of readers in the med drawer at work so I can read the lot number and dosage on the medication vials, but I still manage to see everything else as long as the light is good. And I haven't yet gotten used to the marvel of how clear even the tiniest of print becomes when I do put on  readers.

This young servant to our country had a birthday recently and I know his age. It's not all that many years until he too might need something to help him read a map. And he'll still be driving I'm sure. Without trying to magnify the issue beyond its reasonable bounds, I do hope he doesn't make a spectacle of himself.  All puns intended.