I don’t wear glasses

I have never regarded myself as someone who wears glasses. I suppose that comes from having had for most of my life perfect sight so that it came as a shock a number of years ago when I realised my sight was deteriorating. I insist that I am not a person who wears glasses. I just need some help when reading and driving and working at the computer and cooking and . . . !

I really can’t bear the thought of wearing glasses all the time, so I have pairs of specs scattered around - in the car, in the house, in bags - in the hope that a pair will be available when I need them. The optician says that when I get to the point where I am using glasses more than I am not using them, then I might have to think of some of those vari-multi things. That time is getting worryingly close.

And speaking of opticians, the reason I have blipped this today is that I have just had an argument with a guy on the phone about what the Express in Vision Express means.

The problem is that, until this year, I was happily going regularly to have my eyes tested at an independent opticians in Carlisle. A lovely place with great people, carpet on the floor, comfortable seats and lots of space for choosing frames and having them fitted. Excellent personal service. Then suddenly we got letters to say that they had been taken over by Vision Express. Apparently they would have gone under if they hadn’t been bought out, so perhaps an emphasis on customer comfort and service isn’t viable in a competitive market. Interesting though that the latest Which report on opticians puts Independents above everyone else on all aspects.

So, I went to Vision Express for my next eye test and I was not impressed. The test itself was fine and they did everything they were supposed to. It did help that I was seen by an optician who was from the original place. But I found the shop environment unfriendly, with its plastic flooring, plastic chairs, very little space and not enough time spent with customers. And then there is the waiting – almost three weeks and there is no sign of the new glasses I ordered. Hence the conversation about what the Express in Vision Express refers to. I didn’t get an answer.

I’m not sure I will be going back to them. Perhaps I’ll try Specsavers and see if I save anything. Or perhaps I’ll find another Independent and hope they don’t go out of business.

I’m not sure whether this picture works. I was trying to show how the glasses change what to me is blurred print to clear letters. When I wear them of course!