I paid just over $400 for two pair myself and that was after insurance. Of course it was a matter of choice and not a need. I got a pair of prescription Raybans and a nice pair of everyday wear glasses. I could have gotten my everyday glasses free through the Navy but the frame options are slim and less than appealing. Yes i'm a vain a$$.

I can get Lasik for free too but the wait is a good year or two. I don't mind the wait...i'm here anyway but i can't get on the list here i have to wait till i leave Greece.

Parents who let their kids run wild anywhere.

People who talk on cellphones in the movies.

85% of all drivers on my roads (Yes, they are mine. The govenor has made a new law and declared them such).

Christmas shoppers who knock you down and dont say excuse me or even acknowledge your presence.

Working for someone who is an absolute moron.

Sales calls of any nature on a Saturday morning.

Not remembering where I put my damn keys when I am late for work.

And there are many others but that is it for now. Despite all of these, I still have relatively good days almost everyday. Family and friends are wonderful cures for the things that mess with you daily.

My son, my own little happy pill.

Have to wear them. Had them since I was young, and had a foot go through my eye about 12 years ago through some hard sparring.

After my head was done with being stuck in a vice and anaesthetic put into the eye with several sterilized tweezers peeling back layers of my cornea, I was told I have a condition that lets the cornea heal, but that it's like a loose bandaid and can be removed again (painfully) when dry or wearing contacts. Same condition prohibits laser surgery.

So glasses are what they are for me, necessary...and I take them off usually to practice with blurry vision.

On a different note, a couple of people I know who had Lasik done had their eyes slowly returned to their preivious levels of visual acuity. It may not be a permanent solution for some...or many.

Never knew that bud. How do you spar? Does head contact cause it to worsen? Not trying to derail the thread, just curious.

Casey,

And other veterans who might be interested. Here is the VA page with the PDF files re benefits.

http://www1.va.gov/opa/vadocs/current_benefits.asp

18-wheeler drivers that don't move over going up hills.

I certainly enjoy going from 70mph to 30mph or so.

Health plans that don't adequately cover dental or eyeglasses.

I can't afford to get a new pair, and in order to train I've been wearing the same set of one-day disposable contacts for the past year.

Carelessness.

A few minutes ago, I stepped outside, hoping for some fresh air. What I found instead was a nifty little fire in the trash can out there.

Someone had tossed a lit cigarette in the ashtray, and good ol' Z had to bust out with the fire extinguisher.

Being a little in the macho-vain vein, I often don't wear my specs unless I'm driving.

One day I was working on a pupet project in a school for mentally and physically disabled children.

I was working with a young teenage girl in a wheelchair (she was in it, not me). She was helping me make a giant skeleton from newspaper and sticky tape. As we tried to make the skull it didn't work as well as I'd have liked. She noted my disappointment.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, it just hasn't turned out how I'd have liked it",

"Oh, that'll be my fault then" (a bit of self-deprecating humour on her part)

"Oh no!" says an oh-so-sensitive-and-PC Trev, "No, it's mine!"

"Oh really? How's that?" (knowing damn well when she was being patronised)

"Errrm" (Trev activates squirm-mode), "EWrrrm, it's because I misjudged the size"

"How?" (twisting the knife with glee)

"Errrm, I'm not wearing my glasses"

"Oh? Why not?"

Trev looks around at the kids in wheelchairs and mechanical aids...

"Errrm, I don't like wearing them..."

"Well you should... nobody'll laugh at you here" (killer punch!)

The squelch of Trev being squashed must have been heard for miles!