It was a lesson in First World problems this morning – I left my reading glasses in the pocket of yesterday’s shirt and didn’t want to go upstairs again, as I had cereal in my hand and a computer in front of me. I have spares in my work bag, but couldn’t be bothered to put my cereal down and get up from the computer. It was a combination of shortage of time, creaking knees and laziness.

Fortunately I came up with an ideas, and raised the magnification on the screen until I could read properly. It didn’t quite solve the typing problem, as all the letters are blurred without glasses, but a combination of reasonable accuracy and a spell-checker managed to keep me looking literate. Even with my glasses my typing is often poor, so it was a question of magnitude rather than a whole new problem.

I’m sure there are many people in the world who lack glasses, or computers, or even electricity. I really should be happy, instead of muttering about a lack of glasses. It’s quite frightening though, without reading glasses I can’t actually function. As if to compensate, my long-range vision seems to have improved over the years. The teenager who needed glasses to read the blackboard could read remarkably small print. Now, as I approach the term “elderly” I can see for miles (the sun is quite clear and that is 93 million miles away), but I can’t see much once it gets within three feet of my face.

As my memory is also fading, I don’t always remember my glasses. Fortunately I have a Plan B. The jeweller’s glass I always carry in my pocket came in very useful last week when I needed to read some cooking instructions.