Don’t worry, I have two other pairs of glasses that were donated to me, one of those donated pairs actually works better than my last official prescription.
It was just another day at the park, where my friend brought his wife and two daughters to enjoy the weather. Well, while we were all sitting out on the bench, talk about glasses came up, so I was like yeah hey look through these (my stupid thick coke bottle glasses).
Well, her husband insisted she look through them, cuz he knows how nearsighted I am. So she looked through my lenses, but much to my surprise, rather than say wtf your vision must be horrible, she said “Wow, I can see everything now! And you folks let me drive!?”
That last phrase really threw me for a loop, self admittance that her vision is that bad that she shouldn’t be driving without glasses. I kept my thoughts to myself though, for a bit, while their family went out on the pier to go fishing/crabbing.
I went ahead and discreetly told her husband, our good friend, that I wanted to give her my old glasses, since they seemed to help so much. I told him don’t tell her, and asked if they might be there for a short while longer while we went back home to get the glasses.
It took about 30 minutes or so to go back, get the glasses, and get back out to the park. Of course by then they’re starting to put their gear back in their car, while of course the wife is fussing with the husband and she was walking away, as me and my roommate were driving up.
The husband knew what time it was, and he shouted to her “Where you going [wife name]!?” And I shouted out similar, like “Yeah where you going!?”
Roommate told me to just give the glasses to her husband, but I’m like no, I wanna give them to her in person and see her expression…
When I approached her and tried to give her my old glasses, she insisted multiple times that I don’t have to do that. I responded by telling her that “Yes I do, I had 2 other pairs of glasses donated to me a couple years ago, and you just missed that fella by minutes”
And that’s no lie either, we hadn’t seen the old fella that donated me 2 pairs of his old glasses for months, but while their family was out on the pier, he showed up for about 20 minutes or so for friendly conversation and to let us know he’s still alive.
I’m not much of a spiritual person, but I felt that was a sign. I had 3 pairs of glasses total, my glasses work nicely for my friend’s wife, who had no glasses, so I felt obligated to donate her a pair. When you’re blessed with a useful gift, be ready to help others and pass something forward when it helps someone else.
Put it this way, she hugged and thanked me multiple times, and she’s probably not fussing with her husband anymore tonight…
If you’ve made it this far, thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
And yes I’m subbed to your new community @ExtremeDullard 🤓
As someone who’s glasses easily costs 900€ (with the thickest coca-cola lenses), that is well done dude!
Jesus Christ, 450$ is a stupid price to pay for glasses. What country is this in?
I live in the Netherlands and if you don’t buy them on a sale they can also be this expensive. Especially if you need the thinnest glasses because your diopter is high. It’s because Luxottica has cornered the market. They bought up all the competitors and all the low budget brands. Like walk into a store and all you see is designer brands nowadays. That have a ridiculous markup just because it has a brand on it.
I’m not sure if they ship to where you are, but I recommend zenni if they do. “Cheap,” might not be the right word, but they usually charge me around half of what it would be directly from an optician/frame store.
I prefer the word “affordable” these days, as in my experience, almost everything modern is made cheaply anyways ☹️
That’s definitely true. I got some once that had very little holding the arm screws in, and the screws got lost or the joint broke easily or what have you. Then I decided to specifically search for ones with a broader joint and these just don’t break unless I fall on them or something.
Sometimes a lens pops out and I can’t put it back in because they’re half-frames, but there’s a local shop that fixes that for free (though I try to tip cause it does take time from paying customers).
most stores in the us this is the case.
USA, obviously… ☹️
The glasses I donated aren’t exactly in perfect condition, they’re a bit scratched up (they shouldn’t be, they came with supposed scratch resistance)…
But hey, anything is better than nothing, and that’s what I had to offer. You for real though, $450+ is fucking ridiculous!
I get mine from zenni, they have pretty decent prices. I got prescription formal, informal, and sunglasses all for less than $200. I know that’s still quite a bit but if you consider the math, that made 1 pair like $60.
Also, I know not everyone has extra money laying around, but I physically cringed (no offense) at ‘donated glasses’. Every time I’ve even tried another person’s glasses, the prescription difference made my head hurt within 60 seconds, so it just seems odd to me.
Either way, you helped someone out, and thus random internet stranger is proud of you!
For me, a fresh prescription alone, not even counting glasses, would cost me around $100. My last official prescription, the glasses I just donated, was from 2021. Unfortunately they’re a bit scratched up, but still totally usable. My vision is very nearsighted, about -4.5, so even scratched up is still better than nothing, either for myself or apparently the lady I donated them to.
I was paying attention at the park, without any glasses, she couldn’t even see where her own kids were, and couldn’t see where our dog was roaming around at, unless we told her, and even then she still couldn’t see for herself half the time. Once I let her try on the donated bifocals I’m currently wearing, she damn near dropped her jaw and literally said “Damn, I can see everything now! And you folks let me drive?!”
That sealed the deal for me, she needed my spare glasses more than I do. Even if not her exact prescription, anything is better than nothing when otherwise you can’t even see your own kids at a distance or trust yourself driving.
I still got another spare pair anyways, so I’m good. Now as far as the glasses that were donated to me, they’re ancient coke bottle thick bifocals that were made around 1988, but by very happy coincidence, match my vision more perfectly than anything I’ve ever officially been prescribed, all 4 lenses. 👍
What makes these donated bifocals even better for me, is that the lenses truly seem scratchproof. Like, they made stuff way better back in the 80s and 90s, while these days they claim glasses are scratch resistant, but you can’t even wipe them off with your shirt without scratching them ☹️
Fuck planned obsolescence, but damn, I’ve got donated glasses built like a tank and happen to give me excellent focus, the least I could do was pass something forward to someone else in need.
Though the glasses I donated to her aren’t perfect, at her point, anything is better than nothing…
yeah people don’t get how effed the system is. You have a job and the vision insurance just reduces the price to something more modest to make it worthwhile but you lose your job then you lose that insurance which at least would cover the prescription but now you also don’t have income to get pay even the cheaper amount. So its like the farther you fall the more expensive things are.
Insurance? You got insurance? Where you work at that offers insurance?
I kept rocking the same lenses I was originally prescribed from age 8 until age 33 or so, across different dollar store frames, until I could finally afford another proper eye doctor visit.
The struggle is real yo, so I really do count myself ‘blessed’, if you believe in religion anyways. I’m 43 now and have been gifted better glasses than I’ve ever had before, so I figured the only proper thing to do is to donate what spare pair I have to offer to someone in need…
I have been lucky enough in the passed to have it although both optical and dental are sorta scams. I mean who im kidding the whole thing is.
Oh man, bifocals?? My condolences, I’ve never tried those and I know they’d be like a fish-eye lens if I put them on. Still though, you’re right about anything better than nothing and I’m really glad she didn’t hurt anybody and could use them, good job!
Yeah, bifocals weren’t exactly on my menu either, but seriously, all 4 lenses are by pure coincidence an even better match to my vision than any prescription I’ve ever had, plus the lenses are still practically crystal clear and scratch free, despite being made around 1988.
Note that these bifocals aren’t the newer progressive type, these are older lenses with the hard shear line. Upper lenses let me see at great distances, lower lenses let me see at mid distances. It took a while to get used to the shear line, but that’s a nothing burger for me now.
When I first got the bifocals though, indeed they did give me headaches. Not because of the focus though, that was perfect to start. No no, the headaches came from the earpieces, they were putting pressure on different spots over and behind my ears.
So, aside from replacing the old dryrotted earpiece tips, I spent like 3 hours per side, carefully re-bending the earpieces to match up to my own ears and skull, to distribute the spring loaded pressure evenly for me. No more headaches 👍
Anyways, thanks again for coming to my Ted Talk.
