Teaching The Eye Doctor

HawaiianEye

HawaiianEye

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I had a detached retina back in September which caused me to have several medical procedures done and my eye is much better now, but, within about a year, I will need cataract surgery.

While BSing with my eye surgeon, during visits, I told him that I need to see good in order to play pool (amongst seeing other things, of course). :)

He mentioned that his 12-year-old son took golf lessons, but he had played pool somewhere in a hotel game room during one of their trips somewhere and he would like to learn.

I invited him to come to the pool hall on Sunday mornings and told him I would teach him and his son how to play and last weekend they showed up.

I got them a table next to mine and showed them how to perform the basic fundamentals and they practiced for a couple hours and played a game or two.

The doctor had only played a very few times and wasn't much better than his son, but they were having fun and seeing that it was harder than it looked.

I look forward to them coming again, so that I can help them actually learn how to play to whatever level they strive to learn. It's up to them.

It is interesting watching the eye doctor play and having to show him how to keep his eyes over the cue. He is the eye expert, but he is out of his element.

Hopefully, he will eventually catch on and progress.

He will be the surgeon to do my cataract surgery and give me "bionic" eyes (LOL) when it is time to implant the lenses. With him now seeing what I mean when I say "I need to see in order to play pool", he will know exactly what I'm talking about.

His son said, "dad, can we buy a pool table?" after they got through playing. I told the doctor not to buy anything until he is convinced his son is actually interested and wants to learn. His son also asked how much my cue cost and I told him about $1,000, but he shouldn't be worried about getting his own cue at this point.

I enjoy teaching people to play if they are interested. I like to see how fast they pick it up and progress. I told them that it isn't something you learn overnight and they will eventually see that if they keep showing up.

I hope they show up this Sunday.

Aloha.

FWIW, I'm giving them lessons for "free.99".
 
Very cool.

I love seeing families come in. Father/son. Mom/dad/daughter. Whatever. I often have a little chat with them. Usually I just convey that it's great to see them there.

I have often encouraged people to come that I meet outside the hall somewhere...rarely do they.

He is the eye expert, but he is out of his element
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True. But he is a surgeon...a person with highly developed hand/eye coordination and a huge capacity for learning. He can probably pick it up faster than most if he chooses to.

.
 
Chopdoc said:
Very cool.

I love seeing families come in. Father/son. Mom/dad/daughter. Whatever. I often have a little chat with them. Usually I just convey that it's great to see them there.

I have often encouraged people to come that I meet outside the hall somewhere...rarely do they.



True. But he is a surgeon...a person with highly developed hand/eye coordination and a huge capacity for learning. He can probably pick it up faster than most if he chooses to.

.
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Played league with "Novacaine Joe" a Dentist.
I suspect hes a better Dentist then a pool player.
He did trade a new set of teeth for a custom cue.
Nice guy none the less.
 
pwd72s said:
Wish all retina specialists would do the same. Good going!
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My opth said, "Do you make money at pool, is it your profession?"

"No."

He said , "Then I don't wanna hear it."

I said, "But I want to see from 3 to 10 feet clearly."

He said, "Don't talk to me about feet." (I still don't get that comment)

It took me a few years, but I finally got him to understand.

Good luck with the eyes.




Jeff Livingston
 
Yeah, that’s what every poolhall needs...another eyeballer...:rolleyes:



:)
 
My guarded secret. If you have pool glasses made one notch stronger than long distance they will work better for pool. Thats somewhere between reading and long distance and you need to tell the person checking your eyes to make you a script for that if you are getting your glasses elsewhere.
 
SpiderWeb said:
My guarded secret. If you have pool glasses made one notch stronger than long distance they will work better for pool. Thats somewhere between reading and long distance and you need to tell the person checking your eyes to make you a script for that if you are getting your glasses elsewhere.
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I have contacts made for "pool shooting" distance.

That is what I wear when I play now.
 
The doctor has quite a vocabulary, too.

Graduated from George Washington University School of Medicine and completed his residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C. Completed his Vitreoretinal Surgery Fellowship at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Eye and Ear Institute where he was awarded the Chief Resident’s Award by his peers. He is fluent in five languages including Russian, Dari, Pashto, and Tajik, with knowledge in another three.
 
chefjeff said:
My opth said, "Do you make money at pool, is it your profession?"

"No."

He said , "Then I don't wanna hear it."

I said, "But I want to see from 3 to 10 feet clearly."

He said, "Don't talk to me about feet." (I still don't get that comment)

It took me a few years, but I finally got him to understand.

Good luck with the eyes.




Jeff Livingston
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That sucks. They are trained to prioritize your work for obvious reasons. It's about preventing disability essentially. But it sounds like he has a piss poor attitude.

Though not about your work, it is about quality of life.

.
 
Chopdoc said:
That sucks. They are trained to prioritize your work for obvious reasons. It's about preventing disability essentially. But it sounds like he has a piss poor attitude.

Though not about your work, it is about quality of life.

.
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I did tell him that. He wasn't impressed.

He's one of the smartest doctors. His walls are plastered with degrees and such and his wife works with him, too, and she has degrees all over the place, too.

But smarts in people relations is a different matter.

A year ago, I had my cataracts done. He came in the next morning to our appointment and was saying how we hit the nail on the head, and how good it went, etc. but it didn't. Now, once again after 20 years, I have to wear glasses to play.

I shouldn't have had the cataract surgery. It didn't help the cloudiness and made my prescription one notch worse.

Oh well, yous takes yous chances....




Jeff Livingston
 
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