New Glasses

Yesterday was glasses buying day in the Harrison household, 3 pairs in all. Poor Matt’s been suffering headaches for the last few weeks and eventually got his eyes checked. Yep, he needs a new prescription for his glasses AND has reached that dreaded middle age marker of needing reading glasses (he’s been doing the “stretched-arm” reading pose for a while now). So off we tootled to check out the heart-stopping costs of German opticians, 2 hours later, a large gulp when signing the credit card payment and Matt gets his new glasses in 24 hours.

I also ordered my new glasses yesterday. I chose an online company in the States – Warby Parker. Now, in many ways I’m very particular about my eyecare. Unfortunately I have a bad genetic heritage where eyes are concerned, glaucoma, macular degeneration and early onset cataracts in my immediate family but my contact lens specialist and ophthalmologist look after me really well in that department and I only want glasses for the early morning/late night anyhow so decided to try a little online bargain hunting to balance out the costs.

That’s rather a long winded way of telling you about the company Warby Parker and a part of their business philosophy that I like. Not only do they want to be able to supply glasses at a reasonable cost, they also promise to donate a pair of glasses to a person in need through their Buy a Pair Give a Pair program.

Over 2 billion people in the world don’t have access to glasses, that’s 15% of the world’s population who are unable to effectively learn or work because they can’t see clearly! A simple pair of glasses can increase their earning potential by 20% so it a very effective tool in helping lift people out of poverty. I think all of us would like a 20% increase in our income but can you imagine what a difference that would make to the 3 billion + people who live on less than US $2 per day?

I can’t imagine how I would manage without contacts or glasses, can you? I certainly couldn’t do the work I do, could not drive, even cooking would be a problem, quite a scary thought! However, just by changing where you shop you can make a significant difference to another person’s life. So if you live in the States (or like me can get a friend to bring them over), next time you need new specs check out Warby Parker : http://www.warbyparker.com/Buy-A-Pair-Give-A-Pair