Seeing eye to eye

I went to Tesco yesterday to check out the prices of their specs, and browse over the frames they have, to see if there were any that took my fancy. It's that time again. I had an eye test at Specsavers in July but didn't purchase any at the time, preferring to do it when I was ready. It takes me two or three visits before I can make the decision on which frames to have, and I will not be rushed into anything.

I have £58.50 worth of Tesco vouchers, and with the promotion they have at the moment I can double that in the specs department, so worth a look. I picked out a frame which appealed to me, and showed the optician my prescription. My eyesight is very poor so I need quite a strong prescription, and because of that I pay extra for extra thin, varifocal lenses. This limits the style of frames I can have.

The optician couldn't give me a definate price because she didn't seem to know which type of varifocal lenses would be best for me. Choice of four from £45 Basics, to £159 Made for you. Or whether I needed Thin and Lite, Supathin, or Ultrathin lenses, ranging from £40 to £90. Then they have a 2 for 1 offer, but that makes it a whole lot more complicated, I won't bore you with that. Another thing I was surprised about is that the frames on display are the only sizes they do. They don't measure the distance across the bridge of your nose, and can't order them, so if you try a pair on that you like and they don't fit, tough.

I decided to go away and think about it, but my instincts tell me to go back to Specsavers. They have a lot more choice, and you get measured, and the specs can be adjusted to ensure they are right for you.

I've been having a sort out today, and look what I've found, my old specs from many years ago. Look at the difference between those from the early seventies, to the present day. What massive Deidre Barlow bottle bottoms I wore, like a couple of saucers on my face.

They were heavy, plastic, no nose pads, and thick lenses. I could never stop them from slipping down my face. I hated wearing them, they have come a long way since then thank goodness. Compare the then, and now.

You can see the thickness in the lens in this shot, like the bottom of a beer bottle, I got called all kinds of horrible names. I often wanted to chuck them away.

Those who don't have to wear specs will never know how lucky they are. I must have paid out a fortune in my life time for specs, then later contact lenses. Yes we had the National Health specs when I was at school, but there was a stigma attached to wearing them, everyone knew you couldn't afford a nice pair. Then when I started working I saved up and paid for some more fashionable frames like these.

Then I went onto gold rimmed ones, but they were very heavy and the pads made dents on each side of my nose.

Eventually technology moved forward and thinner, varifocal lenses came in, what a relief that was. But of course they came at an extra cost, these were £300. I couldn't really afford it but at last I felt they were ok and didn't mind wearing them.

These are the specs I wear now, small and lightweight. They are starting to look a bit jaded, it would be nice to have some new ones.

My next plan is to take the specs I had before these back to Specsavers, and ask how much it would cost to change the lenses to the new prescription. I've got some checking out to do before I part with any cash.