Some of you may remember that my 25th birthday was a few weeks ago….well, 24 bid me farewell with an ass-kicker of a birthday present. For as long as I can remember, I've had pretty much perfect vision (I was lucky enough to rarely get sick growing up, too—something that has not followed me to adulthood, either). I aced vision charts for physicals and took a little secret pride in being able to read the teeny, tiny print on the smallest lines from halfway down the hallway. A few years ago, I took a job that involved a lot of long, long days in front of a computer screen, often working in photoshop at 400% zoom, and things declined rapidly.
Fast forward about 9 months and I realized I was struggling to read the digitized subway signs as the trains pulled into the station; any text more than a few feet away had a slight gaussian blur (pardon the photoshop pun). A few months later I started being covered under vision insurance at work, but I put off making a doctor's appointment. Eventually, I changed jobs and lost the insurance in the process, meaning I was only covered by my mom's back in Iowa. In the meantime, things weren't getting any better…so when I headed home for a quick (72 hour!) trip a few weeks ago, I prioritized an eye exam and came out with a new prescription.
Since everything vision is still pretty new to me, I assumed I'd walk out that day with a pair of glasses on their way to me, but once we looked at the price tags compared to the paltry coverage offered on my mom's plan I knew that wouldn't be happening. Vaguely familiar with Warby Parker, I decided I'd check them out when I got back to the city—at $95 a pair with some insurance reimbursement, they sounded like a pretty good deal. I popped up to the new UES store a few weeks ago with an image in my head of what I wanted and in less than ten minutes landed on the Baxter, which you see here!
I'm still experimenting with when I need to wear them and when I don't. They're most helpful when I'm waiting for the subway since several trains run over my line and not all of them get me home, but I'm usually wearing sunglasses once I'm outdoors. I thought I'd need them more at work, but I haven't struggled too much with computer screens yet, the irony of which is not lost on me. I did wear them during a concert last week, as I've noticed trouble focusing on performances when I'm further away or up high.
I think it's going to take some getting used to, so any advice you fellow four-eyes out there can offer would be great. I feel like frames in general are stupidly hipster these days, and as an avid sunglass wearer I also keep thinking that I forgot to take my sunglasses off inside before remembering they are see-through. This has also made for some awkward moments on the subway when I have them on and realize that, yes, the person whose direction I'm vaguely staring in can see me (reflective sunglasses are a lot more helpful in these cases).
