Back to Alex

We helped Mom get new glasses at Sam's Club because she wanted to get transitions for the bright Hawaiian sun. I wrote a post earlier about meeting Alex, the optician at Sam's. We were astonished to hear how beautifully he spoke Japanese.

Well the glasses came in and she wore them around the house and outside. We told her she looked great in them, but she just didn't like how it felt. She said she had to keep dropping the lens to watch TV and then raising it to read. She pronounced this new shape too terrible to get used to.

I contacted Alex about this problem and he told me that we should bring her in and make it right.

"NO," said Mom. "It's too much trouble." Then came the battle of wills.

"If you don't like it that much, Mom," I said, "You need to bring it in. Those are expensive glasses and Alex said he would help you."

"No," she wouldn't budge. I wouldn't describe the look she gave me mulish, but...

"Arrrrghhhh...."

In the end Art told her we were going and that's that!


Alex was as sweet and understanding as could be. He hunted down another pair of frames that were almost identical to her old pair and said there would be no charge. He assured me that they would make it right.

He even said the pair he found is cheaper so we would be getting a refund on the frames. And he also added that "If there are any changes to the prescription or otherwise within the warrantied time, there is no charge to you for a prescription change."

I know Costco was reputed to be the best place for glasses, but at Costco you can only buy new glasses if you are the card holder and I don't know if they have the same warranty. Sam's Club lets you buy a pair for another family member. Besides, Costco doesn't have Alex.

As we were returning home, Mom kept telling us how that other pair was driving her crazy and that the shape was all wrong and how she's been noticing other people's glasses and rounder ones are better and how when you're watching TV it's a bother to adjust it up and down and when you're pulling weeds, you can't see right, and the frames were too skinny, and........

Arrrrrrghhhhhhh!

I've got all my fingers and toes crossed tight that this next pair will be perfect for her. Alex chuckled and said, "We'll make it right."

With an optician as wonderful and kind as Alex, plus that guarantee, this is where I'd be getting any new glasses I need. (And yes, their prices were the best of several places I checked out.)