He spends his whole day working with glasses, but there's nothing wrong
with his eyes. In fact, you could say New Jersey optician Richard Weiss has
seen it all.
"You should see the state people are in when they come in and their glasses
need adjustments. I've seen frames taped to people's foreheads because their
glasses would slide down, or frames taped together in the center," says Weiss.
Then, of course, there are the various creative methods people use when
the arm falls off their glasses. "People will use anything from a toothpick
to sewing thread to twist-ties to keep the temples on and the glasses on their
head."
Weiss's job involves a lot more than saving people from their botched home-made
repairs. Being an optician demands a great deal of technical knowledge and
expertise. They may be responsible for fitting and adjusting eyeglasses, determining
the right placement and type of lens, and filling prescriptions.
It was the technical nature of the job that inspired Sindy Sipkin to work
towards a career as an optician. She got her first look at this career when
she worked as a cleaning person in an optical store, and found herself immediately
drawn to the job. "I've always been science and mathematically inclined, and
this type of work appealed to my tendencies. I decided to get more involved
and ended up taking the course so I could do all the work required in the
store," says Sipkin.
Weiss says an interest in math and science is common among people who work
in this field, but cautions this interest is usually balanced with a liberal
dose of people skills.
Luckily, most people leave the optician's office feeling better than they
did before they arrived. Sipkin says this is one of the big rewards of the
job. "It makes my work worthwhile to see the way people respond to a well-made
pair of glasses -- when they can see well again."
One of Sipkin's most rewarding experiences was also one of her most challenging
-- fitting an eight-month-old baby with a fairly strong prescription
for eyeglasses. In this situation, Sipkin was faced with the challenge of
measuring the tiny contours of the baby's face and finding a frame small enough
to fit. On top of that, they also had to find a frame that would fit well
enough so the baby would want to keep the glasses on her face.
"When the baby and her mother came in to pick up her glasses, and the baby
tried them on, the look on the baby's face was amazing," says Sipkin. "She
really saw, and the grin she gave me made it special to me." It was quite
an accomplishment, but Sipkin takes it all in stride. Improving people's vision
of the world is all part of her job.
Weiss agrees with Sipkin, saying his job is simply to make the best possible
pair of eyeglasses for each individual patient. In spite of this straightforward
approach, Weiss can't help but take pride in a job well done. "I like making
people smile when they can see clearly."