The topic of
aging has dominated much of my life lately. Just as I recovered from pulling a
muscle in my back, I had to pack for a conference in Chicago. Instead of being
concerned about what clothes to wear, my thoughts rested on glasses.
Specifically –
how many pair to pack.
During the
last three conferences I have attended I have had to pay the elevated rates
hotels charge for everything reading glasses as I have managed to break
the pair I took with me. The absence of reading glasses renders me useless at a
conference. If you have not attended a conference lately, there is much reading
involved. Much of that increasingly on a small screen (there is and app for
that – check your smart-phone application market and you can find a conference
app for almost every major conference – and small ones techy people attend).
In addition to
the conference planner/tips/etc. app for the smart phone, people still provide
paper handouts of their 64 PowerPoint slides. There are also menus in
unfamiliar restaurants.
I opted for
the side of caution, and after seeing how much space was available, by packing
three pair – one in each bag and the pair I wore. I am determined to see my way
through the entire conference with my inexpensive drug-store readers rather
than the imported designer readers the hotel will sells.
