Glasses are a pretty unique product, vital to our lives and fulfilling more than just the function of correcting our sight. Take the time to seriously think about this fantastic invention that many of us would struggle to live without, and be thankful that you have the opportunity to use them in your daily life….

Glasses are an interesting blend of function and fashion. There is no other product that’s essential to our safety, comfort and wellbeing but that can also be part of our persona and our wardrobe. People use glasses to give them an image at home or work, to hide behind, to add to their character. Would Chris Evans, Harry Hill or Dame Edna be the same people without their iconic specs? Would we even recognise them?!  They are woven into our body language and used as a prop, and an indicator of our personalities. Bubbly kid’s presenters wear wacky, fun bright colours. Scary stern people who want to intimidate us wear strict sharp metals, (Ann Robinson you know who you are!) Stars ramp up the glamour with oversized sunglasses, (anyone mention Victoria Beckham and Madonna?) And yet for all these superficial factors they are still an essential medical device to many.

Corrective glasses enable us to function fully as we go about our daily lives. We wouldn’t be able to drive, work, or read without them in many cases. Ever forgotten your specs and tried to read the menu in a dimly lit-restaurant? Or tried to drive without the lenses that give you twenty-twenty vision? On one of our trips to help out at an overseas clinic this really was brought home to us. We met a lady who had been unable to feed her family since she broke her specs. We recycle unwanted glasses to impove the lives of people in developing countries. We fitted her with new specs and now she can work again and put food on the table. Her gratitude and complete joy at having her sight restored was something we will never forget, and it changed the life of both her and her family. That’s how important glasses can be.

So if you have a visual correction, don’t moan about them being a nuisance, or begrudge paying out for specs – be grateful that you can easily and cheaply give yourself the gift of sight.