A 2012 study by the Dutch organization Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (Central Bureau of Statistics) said that 61% of people reported wearing glasses, contacts or other visual aids, and that percentage keeps rising. That means there's a lot of people out there wearing glasses right now, including me. And if you're a regular glasses-wearing human being, you know that there is a host of issues that us four-eyed people often bravely face in our difficult daily lives. Read on to have a firsthand look at our struggle.
1. We constantly have dust, lint and fingerprints all over our lenses.
No matter what happens, you can't get rid of that tiny little speck stuck in the upper left-hand corner of your left lens. Is it dirt or just a trick of the mind? And even when you go to clean your lenses with spray cleaner, it never fully solves the problem and just leaves you disappointed with the realization that you will never have a clean pair of glasses ever again. When are they gonna make dust-repelling glasses?
2. We adjust our glasses every five seconds.
No one escapes this. We all use our own methods of adjustment, whether it's by hand or making weird facial expressions in the attempt to get your glasses in a better position. Even during writing this article I've pushed my glasses back to my face about 30 times and they immediately slip right back down my nose two seconds later.
3. We reach up to adjust our glasses when we're not even wearing them.
It's so habitual. I will take my right index finger and thumb in a C shape, reach up to the right side of my face, and then my fingers will pass through space and poke me in the eye because -- you guessed it -- I'm not actually wearing my glasses. I can't even imagine the amount of weird looks I've gotten in public after initially reaching my hand up to my face and then pulling back because I realized my mistake far too late.
4. We panic about losing our glasses when we're already wearing them.
Admit it, you've done this before. It's the morning before work or class and you're tired. You already put your glasses on minutes ago but you don't remember and you start looking for your glasses so you can leave your room. But they're nowhere to be found, so you start panicking and rummaging through everything you own... only to realize your eyesight isn't blurry and you reach up to your face to touch your glasses. Then you smack yourself on the forehead (which you probably deserved).
5. We leave for work or class in a hurry and realize we forgot our glasses by the time we get outside.
Too many times you've been running late in the morning and you don't even notice the fact that everything around you is blurry. And then you have to get all the way back to your room, find your glasses, attempt to clean them, and then get back on your way when you were already running 10 minutes late. It's just a hassle.
6. We never actually use the glasses case we're given when we buy our glasses... but then we lose it when we need it the most.
Who actually places their glasses in this thing overnight? Not me. Then, when I'm wearing my contacts but want to take my glasses as a backup, I just can't find the dang case. I root through my entire room and then give up the fruitless search and instead use a sock to put my glasses in. When I pull out a sock with a pair of glasses inside it, I get even weirder looks.
7. Our glasses fog up when it's cold and windy outside.
You don't know pain until you go outside during a Milwaukee winter with your glasses on, with the icy wind thrashing around your face and making your breath just go right back into your line of sight. Then you have to take your glasses off, try (and fail) to wipe the fog off, put your glasses back on, and the cycle just repeats itself until you end up tripping over your own feet due to your blindness.
