Mean Stranger Gives Eye Test
Perhaps an ophthalmologist in a bad mood?
The Terre Haute Tribune - June 21, 1949
Man Decides Boy Has Normal Vision
LOS ANGELES, June 21 — Harvey Bornstein, a studious 10-year-old, needed a new pair of horn-rimmed glasses today.
Harvey groped his way into Wilshire police station yesterday to report that a middle-aged man came up and snatched his specs while he was playing on the street with another boy. Then the stranger held his open hand up before Harvey and asked:
"How many fingers do you see?"
"Five," said Harvey instinctively.
"You don't need glasses," said the stranger. He threw the spectacles on the street, stamped on them and walked away.
LOS ANGELES, June 21 — Harvey Bornstein, a studious 10-year-old, needed a new pair of horn-rimmed glasses today.
Harvey groped his way into Wilshire police station yesterday to report that a middle-aged man came up and snatched his specs while he was playing on the street with another boy. Then the stranger held his open hand up before Harvey and asked:
"How many fingers do you see?"
"Five," said Harvey instinctively.
"You don't need glasses," said the stranger. He threw the spectacles on the street, stamped on them and walked away.
Comments
I was a kid who wore glasses in the early 50s. This attitude was really typical of the times.
Posted by eddi on 10/26/15 at 08:32 AM
μ2, eddi. Nearsighted as all get out!
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 10/26/15 at 11:22 AM
Unfortunately I have thrown out my beer goggles.
Posted by BrokeDad in Midwest US on 10/26/15 at 02:16 PM
I never engaged in onanism so I didn't need glasses.
Posted by KDP on 10/26/15 at 02:51 PM
My sister wore bi-focals in second grade. She wouldn't be able to tell you how many fingers without her specs because without them she is legally blind. But just because you can see enough to know how many fingers doesn't mean you can see well. The guy was a jerk, that's for sure.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 10/26/15 at 07:25 PM
KDP, what about those personal palm clippers you ordered on line last week?
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 10/27/15 at 01:07 AM
There is an Onan the Barbarian joke wanting to be told. But I'm not touching it.
Posted by eddi on 10/27/15 at 01:26 AM
Refresh my memory, eddi (Google my handle if you need to).
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 10/27/15 at 01:30 AM
Robert Howard's 1930s pulp character, Conan of Cimmeria. Or more recently the Arnold Schwarzenegger movies Conan the Barbarian and a sequel. A selection of Howard's stories: https://archive.org/details/TheConanStories-RobertE.Howard And movie info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082198/ There is a more recent movie, but it is less interesting.
Posted by eddi on 10/28/15 at 01:54 AM
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Category: 1940s