Hi Keonoye.
That's J.R. in the middle. Me! The photo was taken at the 2020 Derby City Classic. On the left side of me is onepocket.org member, Mike Eck, and on my right side is one of Chicago's rising 9 ball stars, Frankie Ruiz. Unfortunately, this photo is a bit blurry but I am wearing eyeglasses which are upside down. I judge that my two friends are envious of my eyeglasses because they flipped their eyeglasses upside down too for this photo. Also, unseen in the photo are a couple of rubber bands on each eyeglass arm and a twist tie from the vegetable section of a food store uniting the rubber bands which provide the necessary tension to hold the eyeglasses high on my face. It looks crazy, it looks insane, but it works for me.
Anyway, here's the story and some advice. I was at the Derby City Classic a couple of years ago and told a friend that I had been experiencing blurred vision for a very long time. My friend responded that I should check out his prescription eyeglasses. I tried them on. I found that the eyeglasses sat too low on my face to see down table. So I turned the eyeglasses upside down which lifted them higher on my face because of the bridge. Also by turning the eyeglasses upside down I automatically flipflopped the lenses I was now looking through. The immediate result was that I could see down table and the edges of the balls nine feet away were no longer hazy. Needless to say my friend never got his eyeglasses back. I mean what's a friend for if you can't appropriate his eyeglasses for a few years or so? Ah, but there's more to the story and the advice is forthcoming.
My significant other decided that my pool playing appearance was demeaning by wearing eyeglasses upside down. I hesitantly agreed. She didn't understand the big picture because she's not a pool player. The big picture is that I can now see balls 9 feet away without a haze with my upside down eyeglasses. Anyway, I sought the advice of some pool playing friends. Ultimately, I decided to purchase "pool glasses" from an optometrist in Philadelphia. I sent him my updated eye examination chart. I agreed to all the bells and whistles like progressive lenses and tints. It should be noted that amongst the optometrist's clients is pro pool player Karen Corr. The cost for the "pool glasses" was just a tad over $800. I was excited to get the "pool glasses." When they came a couple of weeks later, I was disappointed because they didn't fit properly and my vision was blurred looking through the lenses when I bent down in a shooting position.
I contacted the optometrist and after a telephonic consultation he made a second pair of "pool glasses" with a higher nose bridge but without all the bells and whistles. He explained that there would be no cost to me and if I had originally went with this type of pool player's eyeglass wear the cost would have been $400. I explained that the money was not an issue. When the "pool glasses" came a couple of weeks later, I was again disappointed because they still didn't fit properly and my vision was still blurred looking through the lenses when I bent down in a shooting position.
I contacted the optometrist again and voiced my concerns. I explained to him that I was going to Philadelphia in a few months and would stop by his office and hopefully any and all corrections could be completed at that time. In June of last year, I attended the Members Only Onepocket.org Tournament at the Bluegrass Billiards in Mitch Brown's Philadelphia. I took time from the tournament to visit the optometrist. I showed him my upside down glasses. He had the same facial expression that my wife had when she first seen my upside down glasses... a gloomy frown of disapproval. For over an hour the optometrist tried his best to adjust the eyeglasses he had made for me but in the end it never worked. I have never worn them since leaving his office.
Finally, my woeful story is coming to an end. I still have my "pool glasses" and the bottom line is that they have never worked. I will try again to get a pair of appropriate "pool glasses" after I have the dreaded double eye cataract surgery that I have put off for the past six months. But if I can't find an optometrist within 20 miles of me who can do the "pool glasses" then my friend better get a lock and chain for his newest pair of eyeglasses. I'll be coming to get em.'
And my advice: Do Not Do Mail Order.