Buying Sunglasses

I had an appointment on Tuesday with the VA.  I woke up late and had just enough time to put on clothes and drive there.  No coffee. 

I even called to cancel but I was ashamed of myself and hung up and went.  On the way I noticed that there was still ice and snow on the shoulders of the road.  When I arrived I was almost the only patient in the clinic and they spent a lot of time with me.  I asked the doctor for new glasses.  OK.  I also asked for marijuana, as usual. I asked for progressive lenses.  He didn't refuse but I found out that they have changed the rules and decided that I don't qualify for that.  One must either have had a stroke or a brain tumor.  I began to claim that I had a bullet lodged in my head.  This made them very sad, but they still wouldn't give me progressive lenses.  "What I'd really like to have is transition lenses," I said.  I was approved for transition lenses, which have lenses that turn dark in the sunlight.  I thought these would be good with the glare when I drive.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkjb0g_ifzw


When I got home I decided to watch a video on Youtube about Transition lenses to see how other people liked them.  One thing they said that disturbed me was that they don't work well for driving because the top of the car blocks too much sun.  How sad.  Then I watched a video about Oakley sunglasses.  A man was demonstrating all the different styles and lenses.  Then I searched for Oakley sunglasses to see how much they cost.  Uh oh.  Are they kidding?  These sunglasses cost hundreds of dollars.  Why?  I looked at some other sunglasses.  Pretty soon the sunglasses went from being $300 to $750.  This just didn't make sense.  


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voUiWOGv8ec




It's true I have a nice pair of sunglasses that I paid $4 for at Walmart.  I like them.  I just wanted a bit more selection.  

I went back to watching videos on Youtube.  The next video was about a man who bought a pair of Oakleys for $240, and then found a virtually identical pair at AliExpress in China for $13.  He sold his Oakleys on Ebay and kept the knockoffs from China called Coolohs.  His next video was about taking his Coolohs to several different optometrists who tested them for polarization and UV shields.  They were perfect.  There was a link to the glasses he bought and soon I was in sunglasses paradise, looking at all sorts of dazzling sunglasses for about $5 - $12.  

I bought five pair and paid $50.  The red Kingseven men's sunglasses were $11.  I didn't even bother with sunglasses that weren't polarized, since I need that for glare.  

There's another video on Youtube about why glasses and sunglasses are so expensive now.  It seems that Luxottica, an Italian frame maker, has a nearly worldwide monopoly.  Oh.  


 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voUiWOGv8ec