Taking the trouble to visit a patient’s place of work is a prime example of emotional labour, being extra caring. The true ergonomics of the visual task can now be assessed firsthand. This presents the best visual correction, and to boot, for all co-workers to see. To illustrate, here are some anecdotal accounts of my experiences in practice.
1. Typing Pool
Nancy Jones has been a typist in a law firm for her entire working life. At the age of forty-eight, she finally succumbs and gets her first pair of multifocals. Her first encounter with multifocals turned out disastrous. I decided to first visit her place of work to get a better idea of the desk setup. She was sitting in a typing pool with ten co-workers. It turns out she was used to placing the documents of reference to the side, necessitating a head turn, and her computer screen was at eye level. Once this became apparent, the solution was easy. Set up a document holder next to the screen and adjust the screen’s level to facilitate a downward glance. I prescribed Office Varifocals. The curiosity of the co-workers was immediately apparent. “Who was that”? The best advert ever, wrapped in emotional labour!
2. Tom the jeweler
Tom came in for the alignment of specs that were falling apart. He looked like a 46-year-old, +6.00 hyperope. He clearly needed new spectacles, but had lost all confidence in our profession due to previous misfortunes. He admitted he was battling with his vision at work. I offered to make him new specs, which he could try out with no financial risk, but on the condition that I visit his workplace. It turns out that he was sitting at a regular desk height, but at a higher level, and at only 13 cms, there was a protruding stirrup where most of his soldering was done. Separate working glasses with base-in prism became the obvious solution. This resulted in several word-of-mouth referrals from Tom. Emotional labour at work.
3. The Judge
Practicing in a rural town, the social structure was very incestuous. I would invariably bump into a high court Judge at social gatherings, who would insist on lamenting about inadequate vision in his court. Eventually, he came in for a consultation, but other than early AMG with marginal vision loss, I could not explain his discontent with his vision. I requested to visit his chambers, and there instantly the truth unfolded. His bench was like a throne, and he was mostly looking at the Councilors, way below his line of sight, some 6 meters away. He was wearing Flat Top bifocals. The answer, of course, was “court glasses” with a lower seg height.