Shopping for Glasses

Top: left - Ray-Ban, right - Oakley; Bottom: Orgreen Optics

I went shopping for glasses on Saturday with one of my friends. We went to First Markham Place on Highway 7, east of Woodbine Avenue. I went with her the last time I looked. I trust her opinion and she speaks Chinese which helps up there.

We met in the mid-afternoon at the movie theatre. I don't know the mall well, so it was the easiest place to meet up.

I believe we went to less shops than the first time. We window shopped first and went in to the stores we thought had an ideal selection. In total we spent an hour and a half shopping.

I was looking for a similar rectangular-shape to my previous glasses. Maybe a little taller. Of course they couldn't be too big because my vision is poor and the glass would be too thick. So there had to be a balance.

In one of the stores I tried on a number of pairs of Oakleys. I like their sporty look. In another I tried on these glasses called Orgreens that I had never heard of before. It turns out they're handmade Danish frames made of titanium. They looked good, but they were expensive.

The last store we went into was sort of an afterthought. It was smaller than the rest and didn't have young, attractive looking salespeople. Just an older gentleman and someone that might have been his daughter.

I saw a lonely pair of Ray-Bans in his window and thought I would try them on. They actually looked pretty good. Since they were plastic frames, and slightly thicker, he said I didn't necessarily have to get the thinnest lenses which would have cost more. I could have the frames and lenses for $190 total.

Like I told the salespeople in the other stores, I said I would think about it. And that's what I did. I went out into the mall and thought about the different frames and range of prices and, in the end, went back to him.

I upgraded to the thinner lenses anyway for $250. It still was in line with what the other lens-frame combos cost at the other stores. They'll be ready next week.