Glasses

[Olas]

Without trying to sound offensive, I don't really understand why anyone wears them whilst contacts exist. I wore glasses for about 6 months when I first discovered I had bad vision. I didn't hate them, but they aren't as good as just having good vision, which is what contacts are like.

Secretly I suspect people only wear them to look smart, yet ironically a smart person would just wear contacts.

Contacts are expensive as balls and irritate they eyes,

Glasses are expensive as balls too if they're prescription. The irritation a lot of people are describing isn't something I experience, I honestly don't feel mine at all, and I don't think it's normal. But if that's the case I totally understand people with that experience not wanting to wear contacts.

I don't see what's so damnably clever about wearing them. Secretly I suspect that people who wear them feel ashamed about looking 'nerdy' to the extent where they'll jam bits of cling film into their eyes.

Oh I definitely felt ashamed of looking nerdy when I was in highschool. Especially since I was already super nerdy without them and didn't want to further enforce the image. Now, in college, I don't really care. People have told me wearing glasses makes me look more mature and intellectual, which seems like a positive if anything. But that's not really something that matters to me much anymore. My dislike of glasses has more to do with the lack of peripheral vision, and distortion of the FOV that they DO correct. Putting in and taking out contacts becomes extremely easy once you get used to it. I do it every morning without hardly thinking about it.

 

[DoPo]

Glasses are expensive as balls too if they're prescription.

Yet you buy them once or twice every few years. My previous pair I wore for about 6-ish years. I still have those glasses, I just got better ones because...eh, why not. I felt it was time for a change. And I wanted those photochromic lenses. I also got glare protection on them because that just rocks. These glasses cost between one and two years worth of contact lenses (depends on which brand you go for and such), yet I expect them to last at least five, if not more, thus proving to be better value in the long run.

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

I like glasses. If I ever needed them (I probably do) I'd go, and stick with glasses. I think they look nice. Call me a Luddite, but I don't trust light amplification wavelengths being shot straight into my head, nor do I trust sticking bits of plastic against my eyeball. Not only that but the increased care necessary to avoid infection.... glasses seem easier. Besides, I think glasses on women are sexy.

 

[Artina89]

I overwhelmingly prefer to wear contact lenses over glasses. I actually have better vision wearing contact lenses rather as opposed to when I wear glasses. The only problem is that I often forget I am wearing them and I tend to fall asleep with my contacts still in, which is why I have switched to wearing those contact lenses that you can keep in for the entire day, it has made my life far easier.

 

[Flames66]

Without trying to sound offensive, I don't really understand why anyone wears them whilst contacts exist. I wore glasses for about 6 months when I first discovered I had bad vision. I didn't hate them, but they aren't as good as just having good vision, which is what contacts are like.

Secretly I suspect people only wear them to look smart, yet ironically a smart person would just wear contacts.

Because putting stuff in your eyes is bloody dangerous. A friend of mine once accidentally stored his lenses in aftershave instead of the usual liquid because he couldn't see without them on. Put one in his eye the next day, instant searing pain and couldn't open his eye to get it out again.

No thanks. If and when I need visual aid I will just get glasses.

 

[DoPo]

Without trying to sound offensive, I don't really understand why anyone wears them whilst contacts exist. I wore glasses for about 6 months when I first discovered I had bad vision. I didn't hate them, but they aren't as good as just having good vision, which is what contacts are like.

Secretly I suspect people only wear them to look smart, yet ironically a smart person would just wear contacts.

Because putting stuff in your eyes is bloody dangerous. A friend of mine once accidentally stored his lenses in aftershave instead of the usual liquid because he couldn't see without them on. Put one in his eye the next day, instant searing pain and couldn't open his eye to get it out again.

Doesn't aftershave...you know smell? It's a pretty good indication that you've poured the wrong thing. Also, from my experience, aftershave is stored in slightly different bottle than the lens solution. Namely, they are different sizes, different colours and made from different materials (aftershave usually being glass, lens solution - plastic).

Thus the two should feel completely different on touch, smell completely different and they should also appear different even as unfocused smudges.

Whatever your friend did, I don't think it was inherently due to using contacts.

 

[Flames66]

Without trying to sound offensive, I don't really understand why anyone wears them whilst contacts exist. I wore glasses for about 6 months when I first discovered I had bad vision. I didn't hate them, but they aren't as good as just having good vision, which is what contacts are like.

Secretly I suspect people only wear them to look smart, yet ironically a smart person would just wear contacts.

Because putting stuff in your eyes is bloody dangerous. A friend of mine once accidentally stored his lenses in aftershave instead of the usual liquid because he couldn't see without them on. Put one in his eye the next day, instant searing pain and couldn't open his eye to get it out again.

Doesn't aftershave...you know smell? It's a pretty good indication that you've poured the wrong thing. Also, from my experience, aftershave is stored in slightly different bottle than the lens solution. Namely, they are different sizes, different colours and made from different materials (aftershave usually being glass, lens solution - plastic).

Thus the two should feel completely different on touch, smell completely different and they should also appear different even as unfocused smudges.

Whatever your friend did, I don't think it was inherently due to using contacts.

I agree. I suspect there were a series of decisions, choices and coincidences that led up to him getting aftershave in his eye. My point is I don't like anything going near my eyes and will probably never wear contact lenses because if it.

I might make an exception for costume lenses because I am unlikely to forget I am wearing them.

 

[Boris Goodenough]

I have them as backup, I don't wear them for the following reasons:
- Mist on them coming in from cold (quite often here)
- Punches to the face on twice weekly basis kind of limits my use of glasses there.
- I used to swim and snorkel and SCUBA dive a lot, which puts limits on glasses, unless I got expensive subscription goggles.
- Chromatic aberration
- Everything becomes smaller when viewed through glasses.

Also you learn to use contacts, it takes aroudn 2 weeks, then you get used to it.

 

[Olas]

Without trying to sound offensive, I don't really understand why anyone wears them whilst contacts exist. I wore glasses for about 6 months when I first discovered I had bad vision. I didn't hate them, but they aren't as good as just having good vision, which is what contacts are like.

Secretly I suspect people only wear them to look smart, yet ironically a smart person would just wear contacts.

Because putting stuff in your eyes is bloody dangerous. A friend of mine once accidentally stored his lenses in aftershave instead of the usual liquid because he couldn't see without them on. Put one in his eye the next day, instant searing pain and couldn't open his eye to get it out again.

No thanks. If and when I need visual aid I will just get glasses.

I'm sorry, but you can't complain about contact lenses if you aren't using them properly. I've gotten some replies with decent arguments against contacts, but this is probably one of the weakest. Plenty of people are able to use them correctly, and they aren't dangerous if you do so.

 

[Olas]

Glasses are expensive as balls too if they're prescription.

Yet you buy them once or twice every few years. My previous pair I wore for about 6-ish years. I still have those glasses, I just got better ones because...eh, why not. I felt it was time for a change. And I wanted those photochromic lenses. I also got glare protection on them because that just rocks. These glasses cost between one and two years worth of contact lenses (depends on which brand you go for and such), yet I expect them to last at least five, if not more, thus proving to be better value in the long run.

Fair enough. You could also point out that people who wear contacts almost invariably own glasses as well. So you're not even saving costs on that end. With all that in mind, they're still worth it to me.

 

[Olas]

Without trying to sound offensive, I don't really understand why anyone wears them whilst contacts exist. I wore glasses for about 6 months when I first discovered I had bad vision. I didn't hate them, but they aren't as good as just having good vision, which is what contacts are like.

Secretly I suspect people only wear them to look smart, yet ironically a smart person would just wear contacts.

Is this an attempt at a 1990 movie starring Darren Ewing?

Anyway, as a person who wears glasses and contacts, I often forgo my contacts for several reasons.
~I'm not going anywhere or having any company
~I'm playing video games, especially ones like Guitar Hero
~I've had contacts in most of the day and need to allow my eyes to rest
~I'm don't feel like putting in contacts

Honestly, wearing contacts too much isn't smart. A smart person would have both. Or just glasses.

I was trying to be cheeky with the line about being smart, obviously it didn't come across well. Anyway, I too used to wear glasses on lazy days. I stopped because it started to make me feel like an even lazier slob than I am. I'M NOT trying to imply that quadclops are slobs, just that choosing to wear glasses out of laziness made ME feel that way.

 

[Auron225]

Without trying to sound offensive, I don't really understand why anyone wears them whilst contacts exist. I wore glasses for about 6 months when I first discovered I had bad vision. I didn't hate them, but they aren't as good as just having good vision, which is what contacts are like.

Secretly I suspect people only wear them to look smart, yet ironically a smart person would just wear contacts.

Because I don't like poking my own eyeballs every morning to put them in, or pinching them every evening to take them out?

Yes yes I know that if I kept at it, then I'd get faster and it wouldn't become an issue (you can already guess that I tried them once). I wasn't getting it fast enough though - every morning/evening my eyes were bright red and hot from all the prodding/pinching. Sometimes I'd get headaches from them or my eyes would just ache. One day I just got fed-up with it, put on my glasses instead and never went back. Hell of a lot less hassle.

"A smart person would just wear contacts" is a bit of a dick comment to make, and "without trying to sound offensive" doesn't excuse it.

 

[renegade7]

Without trying to sound offensive, I don't really understand why anyone wears them whilst contacts exist. I wore glasses for about 6 months when I first discovered I had bad vision. I didn't hate them, but they aren't as good as just having good vision, which is what contacts are like.

Secretly I suspect people only wear them to look smart, yet ironically a smart person would just wear contacts.

Not going to lie, there is an aesthetic component. I personally feel like I look better in glasses.

These are the ones I wear:

Spoiler

I've only had them a few months, but I'm thinking about going for something a little smaller.

 

[Nickolai77]

Without trying to sound offensive, I don't really understand why anyone wears them whilst contacts exist. I wore glasses for about 6 months when I first discovered I had bad vision. I didn't hate them, but they aren't as good as just having good vision, which is what contacts are like.

Secretly I suspect people only wear them to look smart, yet ironically a smart person would just wear contacts.

I've been short sighted since I was around 14, I wear glasses but only for when I need to use them. Like when I'm driving or I'm at the cinema and want to see something in high definition at a distance. Otherwise, I don't wear glasses. My vision isn't sharp, but I don't need sharp vision to do routine things like go shopping, read notices, socialise and talk to people and to do my current job. I can do all that fine without glasses. I'm short sighted, but not so short sighted that functioning without corrected vision is a problem.

I've never really felt the need therefore for contacts. I've seen my brother go though the whole process of getting them, he has to try different ones until they found ones that didn't hurt his eyes or give him headaches. And then there's the cost element of constantly having to buy new contact lenses. It seems like a lot of bother to me, and the means don't seem to justify the ends of having perfect vision. I don't need perfect vision all the time, just for very particular tasks.

The downsides of choosing to being short sighted though are that i'm not good at recognising people from a distance, or seeing someone I think I recognise far away but find they're a stranger when I get closer. Im also sometimes not able to read signs until I get closer, particularly in supermarkets, so finding things can be a little more difficult. But these are all fairly minor hindrances, none of which I feel justify me either wearing glasses all the time or going through the rigmarole of getting contacts.