I saw this old guy at the factory the other day, like, really SAW him. He’s usually just part of the background, you know? Like the machines or the piles of stuff. But he was trying to put these tiny wires together (they look like spider legs, seriously) and his hands were shaking so bad. Not like nervous shaking, more like… tired. Like his hands were just done. And his eyes, they kept squinting and blinking and he looked so FOCUSED it was like he was trying to push his eyeballs through the table. His foreman (that guy is such a jerk, always yelling) was watching him, tapping his foot, and the old guy just kept messing up. Dropping the wires. I heard the foreman hiss something like "get your eyes checked, old man, this ain't a retirement home." And the old guy just flinched like he got hit. It was gnarly. Really. And the whole time I was just thinking about my dad. He works at a factory too, not the same one, but same kinda stuff. Long hours, loud noise, always smells like grease and metal when he comes home. He’s not super old, like 55, but sometimes when he’s reading the newspaper, he holds it really far away, then really close, then he kinda squints. Or he’ll miss something I say, like he’s in his own world, but not in a good way. Like he’s just trying to figure stuff out in his head. And he’s always tired. ALWAYS. He falls asleep on the couch with his phone still in his hand and I have to go take it so it doesn’t fall and break. I know he worries about money. Everyone does in this city, right? Rent is WILD. And food. And just everything. My mom works too, she cleans offices late at night, but it’s still never enough. I hear them talking sometimes, quiet voices from their room after I’m supposed to be asleep. Usually it’s about bills. Or something breaking that they can’t afford to fix. My dad never complains though. He just works. He’s always been like that. Like a robot, just keep going. But I think he’s breaking. Sometimes when I’m doing my homework, like reading a book, my eyes kinda… blur. Just for a second. And then it’s fine. But it happens more now than it used to. And I keep thinking about that old guy and how he kept dropping the wires and how my dad does that squinty thing with his eyes. What if that’s my dad? What if he’s trying to do those tiny things and he can’t see? And what if he gets hurt? Or fired? We really, really need his job. Like, REALLY need it. I haven’t said anything to him. What am I even supposed to say? "Dad, are you going blind?" That sounds so mean. And if he IS, what then? My mom would freak out. And I dunno. It just feels like a big, dark cloud hanging over us, but nobody’s talking about it. And I feel so stupid for even thinking about it, like I’m making it up. But that old guy today… he just looked so lost. And I can’t stop thinking about it. I just wish I knew what to do. Or if there was anything to do at all. (probably not).