The Price Wasn't Right

My red glasses

I should have replaced my glasses before leaving for Florida, but by the time I thought of it I was too late to do anything. I squinted to see signs, especially in the sun, and new eyewear was on one of the first items on my post-vacation to-do list.

I'd been coveting red glasses for a year or so, but hadn't intended to order everyday, no-line bifocal, transition lenses and sunglasses too. However, I was an easy sell when I saw not one, but two attractive red pairs. I made the purchase at a America's Best, where the price was right and the St. Paul Midway store staff are courteous, cheerful and professional. I didn't get the "deal" (2 pairs for $69.95) but was fine with my higher end glasses, especially when the resident optometrist and optician performed miracles with my new and always difficult prescription.

Bob almost immediately noticed that his own transition lenses -- one of about ten pairs of glasses in active service -- were irreparably scratched and beyond the warranty period. He tried to blame the scratches on me, the self-appointed eyewear cleaner in the family, but at least one optician suggested that he might have done the damage himself by rubbing debris into the lenses while using "unauthorized" cleaning materials, such as his own shirt.

His eye appointment was yesterday morning at the University of Minnesota, and the staff there recommended Costco ("no membership required") and Walmart for his glasses. I was stunned and a little dismayed, since Bob had already dismissed discount providers, attributing at least some of his problems to "shoddy goods" in the current rotation.

Bob is not really a discount shopper, or any other kind of shopper for that matter, but he actually found a pair at Costco that he liked, but a $120 membership is indeed required so no purchase was made, particularly since glasses aren't warrantied. We moved on to Walmart, where he found a nice pair, but the price tag was quite high so that deal didn't fly either. Meanwhile, I smugly admired my two new pairs of red glasses.