Better This Way?

Better this way.... or this?   One or two? Now how about this... or this? Three or four?

I was sitting in the chair in the eye doctor's office while a nurse spun dials on the opposite side of a machine that looked like the face shield for an alien astronaut. Looking through eyepieces that rightly belonged on a set of binoculars, I was studying E's, T's Z's and 2's on the far wall.

Better now... or now?  Three of four?

Well it might be four, I said. Then again maybe three. What happened to one?  I don't think I had enough time to experience one.

The nurse sighed and started flipping dials.

Better now... or now?  One or two?

Two, I said. No, I mean one.  Actually I don't think one's all that great we should probably go back to three.  I think three is better than one.

Sir, comparing one and three is not an option.  It's one compared to two or three compared to four.

Wait. What? But what if three is better than one? If three is better than either one or two don't you need to know that?


Sir, if you could just follow my prompts?

Dials spun again.  Which is better one or two?

I don't want to talk about one or two.  I want to talk about three.  Three is the best... unless maybe it's four.

Hey, what I can say. The pressure was on. I was being evaluated for eye glasses I'd be wearing for the next year and the nurse wanted me to make decisions in seconds.  It just wasn't right.