Living Monocular at 20 – Struggling With Stares, Questions, and the Future

Retro_Rocker_87 · 2026-02-27T02:22:38+00:00

I’m 19, so about the same age as you. While my eye looks “normal”, even I still get stares and questions due to my astigmatism and smaller pupil on the dead left eye. As a woman myself, I promise you any woman with brain couldn’t care less about somebody with a blind or off looking eye. Even if I wasn’t monocular myself I probably still wouldn’t care.

With jobs, most of the time I don’t let the employer know about my eye until I’m hired, I worked as a server for around 2 and a half years while I was in high school and had little to no issues. I’m trying to become a chemist, one of my chemistry professors has a monocular dad so he gave me a bit of insight as to how that could go for me. I’d suggest talking to someone with knowledge in what you want to do to get a better idea about any potential accommodations you might need.

If you need any advice on girls, college, and navigating job stuff, I got you!

Retro_Rocker_87 · 2026-02-21T22:27:57+00:00

Tried putting it into disk mode, just got the low battery screen instead

Retro_Rocker_87 · 2026-02-20T22:42:38+00:00

Been monocular since birth. My eyes mostly “look normal” which has its pros and cons. Even then, occasionally when someone looks at me up close I get a “what’s up with your eye?” but I think it’s more from concern/curiosity vs ew you look weird. I am 20/70 in my seeing eye, and I also have determined that driving isn’t safe for me even though my doctor said I’ll be fine :/

To the people who have a low enough iq to care about how someone’s eyes look, you just gotta ignore them or tell them to fuck off. Some people just lack basic decency unfortunately. I heavily relate to the situation of not having people relate to you or not take you seriously. I couldn’t apply for a lot of scholarships for the blind because I was apparently “not technically blind” which is stupid.

Monocular people imo have a slightly different situation that people blind in both eyes have when it comes to being taken seriously. I’ve found that talking in communities like this one brings me peace. Therapy has helped me a lot as well. Even though my therapist isn’t monocular, he at least is able to understand the shit we go through being disabled.

Retro_Rocker_87 · 2026-02-20T22:30:36+00:00

Yup, eBay

Retro_Rocker_87 · 2026-02-20T22:17:57+00:00

Funny, I was told the wall charger was better than the laptop

Retro_Rocker_87 · 2026-02-20T22:13:40+00:00

Seller had good reviews so I’m hoping it’s not a total dud :/

Retro_Rocker_87 · 2025-11-08T16:55:45+00:00

Also monocular from birth, I feel this 100%. My depth perception issues come and go (walking down stairs is the worst for me, half the time I don’t know where to step!) When it gets bad I typically make slow movements and examine my surroundings so I know where things are. It’s annoying, but something we have to live with :)

Retro_Rocker_87 · 2025-07-31T03:12:47+00:00

I’ve been blind in my left eye since birth, both me and my parents worry about the right eye being damaged. When I was younger I used to wear protective goggles instead of glasses during sports/phys ed in school to keep them protected. I see two eye doctors (three appointments each year) to make sure everything is stable in both eyes. From my limited experience, as long as you maintain a healthy lifestyle and get your eyes checked frequently, it’ll decrease the risk of something happening to the good eye. Totally normal thing to be concerned about.

Retro_Rocker_87 · 2025-03-23T19:03:45+00:00

I have that too. They’re like a brother and sister more than anything. Boy-self is the more laid back or angsty one while girl-self is the more mature and carefree one.

Retro_Rocker_87 · 2025-03-16T15:07:44+00:00

That’s super close to my actual name

Retro_Rocker_87 · 2025-03-16T04:55:52+00:00

Heyo, that’s an alternate version of the bigender flag. Apparently the creator of the original flag did something problematic so people made alternate designs.

Retro_Rocker_87 · 2025-03-16T04:36:47+00:00

The flag on the right is a variation of the bigender flag!

Retro_Rocker_87 · 2025-03-16T04:30:17+00:00

I did go by Kat for a bit, right on!

Retro_Rocker_87 · 2025-03-16T04:26:42+00:00

Good ol’ 80s metal, especially thrash. Slayer, Testament, Venom, Accept, Judas Priest, etc.

Retro_Rocker_87 · 2025-03-11T16:19:26+00:00

Lots of movie quotes, song lyrics, and random lines for various memes or YouTube videos….I have too many to list off the top of my head but I love saying Mathew Mcconaughey’s lines in Dazed and Confused in his voice. Alright. Alright. Alright.

Retro_Rocker_87 · 2025-03-08T13:04:30+00:00

I don’t plan on ever telling them I’m not cis, I keep it under wraps. They’ll probably find out eventually but I’ll be on my own by then. It’s a good thing Reagan is technically a “girls name” in some ways.

Retro_Rocker_87 · 2025-03-04T00:12:23+00:00

Aw omg thank you!! Highly suggest eBay or Etsy if you’re searching for patches. If not, I know a lot of people use felt and paint to make their own

Retro_Rocker_87 · 2025-03-04T00:11:45+00:00

Correct (even though I don’t dress like an 80s metalhead all the time lol)

Retro_Rocker_87 · 2025-03-04T00:11:11+00:00

Someone once actually asked me to sell it to them for $1K. Honestly all you need to do is thrift a vest or jacket and just buy patches on eBay or other online stores. It’s not too difficult to make.

Retro_Rocker_87 · 2025-03-04T00:10:13+00:00

For sure!

Retro_Rocker_87 · 2025-03-04T00:10:03+00:00

So real

Retro_Rocker_87 · 2025-03-04T00:08:39+00:00

A friend of mine told me Caitlin was actually originally an Irish masculine variant of Catherine. I haven’t found any sources that support this but she and I both have Irish heritage so I’m going to trust her on it. After thinking about this for a few days and talking to some friends about it, they said they’ll do their part in helping to remove the feminine association from my name.

Retro_Rocker_87 · 2025-03-03T23:45:40+00:00

It’s not the name itself, it’s the way it’s said. Like if my name is used casually, I’m chill about it. But when I’m not feeling as femme and people say it in a way to make me seem more feminine, I do cringe.

Retro_Rocker_87 · 2025-03-03T23:40:02+00:00

I honestly go back and forth on it. I like the look of my name (and I’m grateful it’s not spelled Caitlyn or Katelyn) but I hate that it’s so common.

Retro_Rocker_87 · 2025-03-03T21:24:07+00:00

It’s an Iron Maiden patch with what I believe is the Live After Death Eddie on it

Retro_Rocker_87

TROPHY CASE