The eyes have it

When I went for this job last year, I was getting really bad eyestrain and headaches. It seemed weird, so I went to the eye doctor for a look, and discovered that my focal depth is somewhere out in the boonies. She was surprised, and said so. Well, what she told me was, "You have perfect vision, 20/20 or better, but your focal ability stinks".

What I actually have is an extremely deep depth of field, and I focus my eyes typically about a quarter-mile ahead around me, flicking back closer when I see motion. Something the eye doctor probably didn't notice was also the fact that not only is my focal depth wildly deep, it's short-term: I 'see' with peripheral vision, rarely focusing on anything or anyone for longer than, say, a few seconds.

I don't see things, or people, or objects or colors; I see motion and movement. I think it freaks people out at the job when I'm sitting behind a desk reading a book and also watching the room at the same time, with my peripheral vision. See, I'm not watching a particular person, I'm tracking motion, and you don't have to look directly at something to track it's motion. In fact, it's better that you don't.

A good part of the issue with the kid last week, and something I feel kind of bad about, is that despite his actions, he really didn't think he was being monitored. In fact, I was sitting with my antiquated laptop, happily typing up reports, while watching him and his buddy pass notes with my peripheral vision. He didn't think he'd been seen, whereas in fact I knew what he was doing the entire time. I do this all the time. It's not that I don't see things, it's a matter of deciding what to do about them...

I'm also notorious for driving along with people, and suddenly pointing to a treeline half a mile away and commenting, "Flock of wild turkeys at the treeline", when they can't even see them at all. Or pointing out deer, people, things at ridiculous distances. Why? Well, really, my vision isn't so spectacular, and I can't pick out stars in the daytime like WWII Japanese pilots could, but since I look for movement, most of the time it doesn't matter.