Complete Story
10/09/2024
President's Message
On a recent flight to Vision Expo, one of the hosts, a young man in his twenties, was so exuberant, he couldn’t contain his excitement of being on the flight. I overheard him tell the hostess, with whom he was working, that when he received the call to work, at 12:05 AM, the scheduler commented that he had never had someone be so excited to be called in to work.
During the flight, I had the opportunity to ask him why he was so excited, and what he liked so much about his job. His name is Noah, and he rattled off a list of things including that he has always loved airplanes, airports, luggage, being on planes, and even the smell of jet fuel! When I asked him the downside he simply said, "When I have to go home."
The interaction I had with this young man made me wonder about how different the optical world, or any profession, for that matter, would be if we all approached each day like Noah does. To be transparent, it should be noted that he has been in this job only 11 months.
Do you remember the excitement and probably nervousness most of us had when we first began our journeys into the profession of optics? Do you remember measuring, then measuring again, and then asking a coworker or supervisor to double check your accuracy? How about when the glasses were finished and you dotted up the lenses, held them up and measured the PD which was spot on? Or the first time you had the privilege of fitting someone’s child with their first pair of glasses, and seeing the child’s face beaming and perhaps a little tear in the eye of the parents?
Today, you may have been an optician or perhaps still an apprentice for more years than you care to remember. There is a pile of jobs to be checked in, another child to be fit, and someone else complaining that their lenses have a scratch in them. The excitement of working has been replaced by watching the clock for closing time, and the schedule for the end of your week.
Do you ever long for those days when you looked forward to going to work, when each patient was an opportunity rather than a pain? You are not alone, as we all go through this in one form or another, but undoubtedly, we also know opticians who come to work as if it’s their first day, and seem to still be excited by what they do. I reached out to some of those people and asked them what their secret is. Here are some of their responses:
Regardless of how superhuman we think we are, or try to be, we all need to recharge and refocus to get back some of that excitement we had when we were new to the field.
For myself, there is nothing better than meeting up with other opticians to commiserate, collaborate, and celebrate successes, regardless of how insignificant they may seem. Some great places to do this could be meeting for drinks after work, a local OAO Professional Development event, or possibly even a big splurge and going to Las Vegas or Florida for Vision Expo.
It’s a big world beyond the walls of your workplace, and there is so much in terms of knowledge, products and networking that we often don’t consider, but maybe the ticket to bringing back the excitement of the important work we do. Call a friend, see if they might be in need of the same thing, and make a plan to recharge and approach your profession with a new perspective. You might be surprised with the results.
