The Saga of the Glasses

[azriona]

I went to the fancy-schmancy eyeglasses store after work. They don't take insurance, but they do provide a very detailed write-up so I can be reimbursed --- which is good, because I found two pairs of glasses that I really like, and they're both $400ANYWAY. I'm going back tomorrow and dragging a co-worker with me, because obviously I'm not buying

Comments

[rosewarren]

I have a recipe - I just have no time to type it out. Sometime today, really.

And glasses - blech. I've worn them since I was 10. I did contacts for years until I got pregnant and couldn't tolerate them anymore. And now I'm too lazy. But I make sure to get the nicest, most flattering pair I can find since I have them on ALL THE TIME. Yes, this is painful when you pay cash and don't have vision insurance, but I'M WORTH IT.

[azriona]

Well, the insurance will pay for up to $130 of them - which isn't all that much, considering. Makes me wonder what the heck I have insurance for, honestly. I might have to sit and do the math and determine if it's really worth it, or if I'd do just as well to save the money and use that instead.

But I agree with you on getting the best pair possible - hence why the idea of $400 makes me quibble, but not that much. The guy at the store was touting them as basically my general glasses for the next ten to fifteen years - and he's been wearing his for ten years, and they're still fine. (One of the pairs I'm looking at is very similar to his, construction-wise.) Which I think makes a lot of sense.

So I'll go back tonight with aforementioned co-worker, and see what she thinks. But in the meantime...did you click on the Zenni Optical link maypanic provided above? I don't see anything quite like what I saw at this store, but wow does it look intriguing....

[rosewarren]

I love the thought of cheap eyewear! I have such astigmatism that I need special-order lenses, which is what always pushes me over the edge, price-wise. This summer I bought new frames and lenses AND new sunglass frame and lenses. Yikes. My frames tend to be in the $100-$200 price range before I buy the lenses. And yeah, I question whether vision insurance is worth it. Thankfully we can afford my shopping sprees, and I get to go where I want. Which is always Lenscrafters, because that's where my husband worked in college, but I've always been very happy with them.

[rosewarren]

But I do change frames every two or three years. The thought of wearing the ones I chose ten years ago makes me shudder. Fifteen years ago? I cringe when I picture aqua metal frames. Yes, aqua. Very round, metal aqua frames. I've burned most of the photos.

[azriona]

LOL. Yeah, my first pair of glasses 20 years ago, I think I'd cry if you told me I had to wear them. But those were genuine coke-bottle lenses. The woman at the store this evening showed me her glasses, which are a stronger prescription than mine - and WAY WAY lighter than the glasses I currently own. Amazing what a few years of technological advancement can do!

I like the frames I ended up getting - I think I'll still like them in 10 years. And they are most definitely not aqua, nor can they be described as round.

What really convinced me though - I went to two other optical places. One was a chain, one not. And all the glasses there were exactly the same. And every one I tried on utterly bored me to tears. None of them caught me the way the two at the first place did.

(So yes, I bought one. But no pictures, so you'll have to wait until next week when I pick them up.)