We did something odd. We bought glasses here and 2 minutes away we bought them in Specsavers. The latter is hectically busy and the former very quiet. The staff here are so sweet. The store is welcoming brightly lit and their wares are well displayed.
Both places are offering half-price deals on branded glasses but Boots isn't long open so maybe it'll get busier.
So what brought all this about? Well firstly we both wear glasses but haven't updated our scripts in over five years. Wu flu interrupted.
The postie popped an offer into our free - standing postbox, fixed to ground beside the Corinthian pillars that front our home; a free eye test for two.
We arranged our test appointments and went early to pause at a new bubble tea stall for a mango milkshake (£6.2). It had a giant straw, punched into the sealed cup to allow mini, mango - filled bubbles that float in the yellow medium to be slurped into one's mouth (or gob hereabouts). Once slurped they pop and it's mango, it's pleasantly odd to begin with, but suddenly delightful.
We were told on arrival, given our ages, that our tests were free given our ages and didn't need the coupon. Thanks kids. The eye tests themselves are very quick. I recall the days one sat forever in a darkened room with heavy metal frames perched on the nose with a bloke who sat humourless with a boxful of lenses picked/chosen who wedged lenses into the metal frames repeating over and over 'is it better 1 or 2' while you looked at a number, letter or squiggle on a white background and who repeating the practice to perfection is met.
Now it's machines and all is done in a few minutes. The gazillion lenses are gone, other machines test eye pressure with a puff and other such stuff. Once done we got our scripts and ordered glasses and then across into Boots with scripts for their Ray Ban's (me) at £107 and Calvin Klein for my wife £102). Then a free £5 added to her Boots card.
I wouldn't know Mr Klein if he stood beside me. Ray Ban derives from the ability of these glasses to limit the ingress of either ultra-violet or infra-red rays of light. It took Boots 9 days to obtain our glasses then they fussed, purred and fitted. Job done.
Now we've enough specs to see us into our twilight years. read more