Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Trying Trifocals

Before yesterday, I hadn't worn prescription eyeglasses since my son or sons destroyed my previous pair. I don't recall whether it was my now-five-year-old or now-seven-year-old, but no matter, I now have a new pair.

They are trifocals of the modern type: no lines. So far?  I hate them.  The mid-range I have no use for.  The long range is only on the top of the frame, so, for example, when I was looking down at the bottom shelf in the grocery store, I still couldn't read anything, because I was looking through the bottom part of the lenses.  So it means I often have to tilt my head awkwardly to see what I'm trying to see.

The bottom part is useless as well.  These are the typical smaller-type frames that are most common today, and thus, if I need to read a prescription bottle up close, I could easily find a sight-line below the frames.  My close-up vision is perfect without lenses.  When I wear contacts, I need readers.

What's more, even though they are without lines, there is a very small "window" through which I can read the close-up things. My face has to be nearly perfectly square to the object I'm reading or focusing on.  When I read from a magazine, I actually have to move my head with the printed lines.

I'm giving them a few days like they told me to, but I'm not optomistic (see what I did there?).

I only hope I can get at least some of my money back.  The one other annoying thing was that when deciding what to get for glasses, I asked how much this pair with all the frills would cost after insurance.  The number the lady quoted me was modest, so I was pleased.  No fewer than three times, however, during our discussion and her reading of the features, she discovered a cost she omitted.  They ended up costing more than twice as much out-of-pocket as she originally said.  

It was the old boiling frog bit; each increase was minor enough as she discovered it that I just said, "That's fine."  Had she said the correct price from the get-go, I'm sure I would have said no to them. But by the time she did get to the correct price, I was so excited to get these specs with all the cool features, that I wasn't turning back.

I wish I had. My neck is stiff just from the short time I've typed this post thanks to these damned things.