Kelly to the Rescue

So much for the best laid plans.

I have to admit that I always come to work prepared. I’ve got a casual outfit and jeans in my car if needed. I have an extra tie. I have an extra pair of shoes. But this morning, I found I had not planned for every contingent.

About 4:15am, while going through the scripts for the morning show, my eye started itching. I wear contacts so that’s nothing new. So I went into the washroom to clean and re-insert my contact — and that’s when disaster struck! I lost my contact lens.

If you have ever had contact lenses, you know the feeling when you can see out of only one eye. I searched and searched and panicking and freaked out. How was I going to do the show with just one good eye? My heart sank – and I was close to despondent believing I had let everyone down.

Of course, leave it to the folks on the morning team to bring a little perspective to the problem. Melanie plays the role of den mother beautifully and asked me what was wrong. Nick, our producer, came into the washroom to make sure I was not doing bodily harm to myself because of this latest disappointment.

But it was Kelly who came to the rescue ( not wearing a cape but it would have been appropriate ). She often wears contacts and she’s about as blind as I am. She always brings extra ( as most women tend to do and most men forget to do ) and gave me one of her lenses. Well, guess what — it was nearly perfect! At the least, it gave me enough vision in my right eye to be able to see.

Of course, there was one catch. Her contact had a blue tinge. In essence, leaving me with one blue eye and one brown eye. On camera, it was hardly noticeable — but Kelly’s new nickname for me? “Old Blue Eye”.