As I settled into a chair in the foyer of my hair salon, my stylist greeted me from the desk in the main room. She immediately asked me if that was my baseball hat hanging on the peg rack across from me. I said, no, that it wasn’t and she was shocked. True, I have been known to wear a baseball cap to my appointments since I am not about to wash my hair in the morning if I am going to go get it done first thing in the day. During my two hour appointment, the other women who work there asked if I had gotten my hat. I finally posed the question to the room, “Am I the only one of your clients who wears a baseball cap here?” It turns out that I am. I followed up with, “Do you wear a baseball hat?” Another unanimous “no”.
Of my closest friends, only one wears a baseball cap as much as me, maybe even more. The others never do. I wore one everyday of our recent vacation. My hair goes into a little bun, which sticks out of the hole in the back of my hat. As I sat waiting for my color to process, I thought about the fact that I am approaching 60, how long can I get away with the chapeaus sporting “Montauk Point Lighthouse”, “ACK” and “Seahawks”? I have pondered the same about the t-shirts I wear. With the din of running water, the phone ringing and a nearby hair dryer, I determined in both cases, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
The discussion picked up again, I told them that although it is not the reason I favor them, baseball caps are a recommended accessory for the visually impaired. In most cases, sunglasses are too dark for us. We are already seeing in diminished illumination, the room and the skies always seeming to have the lights turned down low. The brim of a hat offers perfect shading, helping with glare as well, if we can perceive that. Added bonus: it sticks out 3″ from our forehead, so if we are going to walk into a glass door that we cannot see is closed, it will save us from disaster. (This, of course, applies in instances when we are not using our cane.) The ladies found this very interesting, one commented how we take things for granted.
As I write this, a hat sits atop my head. “WOMEN WHO READ ARE DANGEROUS” is on the cap, I wholeheartedly agree. WOMEN WHO WEAR BASEBALL HATS, however, ARE CAP-TIVATING.
#sisterrain #alittlesightalotofheart #legallyblindwriter #blindnessisaspectrum #opticneuropathy #visuallyimpaired #blin #hatsofftomyhats
