You spent how much?

About a year or so after moving to New York I decided I was far too lazy to continue wearing contact lenses and decided to purchase a pair of glasses. I grabbed my roommate Tim and made the trip down to Lens Crafters. Upon entering, I immediately became smitten with the young lady helping me pick out the glasses (I should have turned around and walked out right then). I looked at a lot of different glasses, but at the time I still detested wearing any sort of glasses on my face, so I wasn't happy with anything. In chimes the salesperson with "Oh, you look fantastic in these, blah...blah...blah..." Being that I hated everything, I was easily swayed by a beautiful woman telling me what looked good (while Tim stood a little ways off just laughing at me). Of course I pondered for quite a while, knowing full well that I was going to go with whatever she said, but not wanting to believe that I would do that, knowing full well that I would...blah blah blah again. So eventually it comes around to price. To this day all that I recall hearing was $200. We talked about the frames and about the lenses and all I heard was $200. Now keep in mind that up to this point I wore contacts and only owned a pair of $35 "last resort" glasses from the Wal-Mart discount rack, so $200 for a pair of glasses was a pretty big pill to swallow.

Tim is still laughing at me. I sit down and get measured, have my prescription entered and get everything ordered. Finally the time comes to pay. The young lady says "Ok, with tax that comes to just under $450." WHAT!!! Ok, so I had only heard $200. That was the only number I ever heard. Where the heck did $450 come from? So obviously I only ever heard the number $200. Come to find out that was correct, only it was $200 for the frames and $200 for the lenses. Oy vey! So what did I do? I'd like to say I said OH HAIL NO! Let's find something cheaper. But no, because the beautiful young lady had told me I looked great in those glasses and I was completely smitten. Again, Tim continues to laugh.

So, out I walk having just paid almost $450 for a pair of glasses that after picking up a couple weeks later was afraid to wear for fear of breaking or scratching them. I got some pretty good wear out of those glasses. That was around 2000 that I purchased them and didn't replace them until my prescription changed in 2005. Of course when my prescription changed I had left NYC, had no job and had just spent every penny I had in savings on skydiving, so needless to say, I went back to the ole' discount rack. Since 2005 I've had a couple pair of discount rack glasses and never thought much about it. I've always held on to that pair of $450 glasses as a backup, and for the last few years that I've been working in fire keep them in my pack so I always have a pair of clear glasses in case I go out on a fire wearing prescription sunglasses and then the fire goes until after dark (that was a lesson learned the hard way, several times). Well, the other day I forgot my regular glasses and had to pull out that spare pair to put on for the first time in a few years, and I'll be damned. They are the most comfortable pair of glasses I have ever owned! I really couldn't appreciate them for the 5 years I wore them full time, but now that I've gone back to cheapie glasses I realize just how amazing they are. So, 7 years later, I realize that those glasses were worth every penny of the almost $450 I spent on them.

Who's laughing now, Tim?

Miss Bender...still working on that list. This whole glasses debacle was actually one of the items on my list, but I got a laugh out of it and decided to expand a bit. Coming soon, I promise!