Making friends in high places

I wear contact lenses. Disposable contact lenses. Disposable contact lenses that are supposed to be thrown out every 2 weeks. See where this is going?

I'm not usually a super cheap person, but I hate having to reorder contacts, and frankly, I think they can last longer than 2 weeks.

I opened my last new pair of contact lenses 8/22. Yes, about 6 weeks ago. I knew they were getting old, because, well, I just knew. But, I only have a couple pair left, and I haven't gotten around to making a doctor's appt, blah blah blah. I remember thinking to myself late last week, that I really should get a new pair going.

Anyhow, my daughter Alissa tried out with he violin and got a spot in a children's orchestra. A fairly well known orchestra. Good and bad. Good, because it offers opportunities for her I never would have dreamed of, and she has earned it, but bad, because this particular orchestra tends to have snooty type families involved in it. Generally, the parents are well to do, pushy (super pushy), and are pretty impressed with themselves. Not all of them, but most of them.

I wondered how I would fit in with this particular group of people given the fact that I'm not rich, ... and not rich. I suppose I can be a bit pushy, and I am not necessarily impressed with myself, but I do amuse myself. That being said, I don't run around in society circles, have my child in a seriously OVERPRICED private swanky school, don't live in a gigantic house in a rich neighborhood, and well, I guess my sense of humor is odd at best. What you see is what you get when you get to know me. However, I didn't want Alissa to be completely ostracized by my weirdness, so I've been trying to be on my best behavior at the rehearsals. I've kept to myself, with a dutiful nod and smile here and there, but mostly I just try to read during this time.

Enter last Friday. I get Alissa to rehearsal, and realize that I'm wearing my old Target jeans, a tshirt, and a zipper sweatshirt. Whoops. Oh, and the t shirt is stained. Good move. I find my spot, sit down, and read this horrible book I've been trying to get through. Sound good?

About halfway through the rehearsal, my eyes start stinging, watering, and generally hurt like hell. I close my eyes, trying to find relief, to no avail. I had no extra pair of contacts, or glasses for that matter. Of course, this is the night one of the moms approaches me. She comes up in the seat behind me, whacks me in the head as she puts her purse down, and asks me something about the pieces the kids are working on. I try to answer her, while avoiding direct eye contact with her, because I'm pretty sure my eyes look pretty crappy at this point. I reach up to wipe my eye, and get greenish eye discharge on my hands. Crap. I have a problem. The mom continues to try to talk to me, and as she is telling me how her son goes to xyz swanky school, asks me, "Where does your daughter go to school?" I look up, and tell her that Alissa goes to public school, and that's when I see it. An odd look on the mom's face. She says, "oh...well, see you next week". By then my eyes are watering so badly I want to scream.

We leave, I go into the ladies room, and catch a glimpse of myself. My eyes are so bloodshot, it looks as if I have been smoking pot like it was going out of style. Pair that up with my fancy duds, and my public school kid, and I get it. I'm making lots of friends at orchestra. Whoops!

I changed my contacts yesterday, and I even wore an unstained shirt. Proud of me?

***Update*** By the way, I should go on record as saying I'm certainly not ashamed of public school, in fact I love our school. Also, I think private school is fine for people to choose, too. I actually went to private Christian school my whole life. I just think when people act like they're better than others based on where their child goes to school, that is a problem. I also need to go on record saying that I love Target. Really.