Pirate patches…aaarrgh

My friend Katie P. informed me that pirates would often wear a patch over their eye, not because it had been gouged out, but rather as a way to gain a tactical advantage when overtaking a ship and plundering the booty. The pirates would board a ship and once they were done plundering and pillaging the main deck, they would descend down into the lower decks looking for more treasure. Since the lower decks were dark due to a lack of sunlight, the pirates would need to let their eyes adjust to the darkness, unless they were wearing an eye patch. With the patch, they could just flip the patch over to the other eye, and the eye that had previously been under the patch would already be adjusted to the darkened conditions. Then the pirates could continue to plunder without delay.

I have found this technique to be quite useful on Camp Lemonnier. No, I don’t go around camp wearing a patch over my eye, but often times I will have to get up in the middle of the night to use the facilities since I drink a large amount of water during the day to stay hydrated. After walking outside and into the brightly lit bathroom, it is hard to see once I get back into my CLU and I end up stumbling around. So, in order to avoid stumbling around in the dark, I keep one eye closed as I walk outside, use the facilities, and come back. Once I get back in my CLU, I open my other eye and it’s as if I had never left in the first place. Hopefully this useful bit of information will help you avoid stumbling around in your house if you have no nightlights and need to use the restroom in the middle of the night.