As per the request of one of the DanceNet readers, here are copies of the past ramblings of the DanceNet Webmaster.
I was just talking to a couple of opticians who told me that everywhere they go or every time they watch TV or read the paper, they're thinking..."oh, man! their lens are too big!" (or too small). "The frame's are the wrong shape for their face", and so on.
And on that note...
Every once in a while, I end up using some business and I walk away feeling so good about that business that I want to tell everyone about it.
I had been getting my glasses from Gopen Optical for more than 25 years now. It was more or less a family-owned business on Kneeland Street in Chinatown, with the father of the owner still working there way past retirement age so he could keep active. As far as I could tell, they sold many of the same frames as other shops and charged way less than they could have. The service was always exemplary and I could always trust them to pick out frames that looked good on me, even if I didn't agree with them right away.
Alas, all good things must come to an end as the owner decided to find work that would let him be home more often (no more 12-hour days) so he closed the shop suddenly a couple of years ago. I was fairly upset over this because I lost a service I trusted; every visit to the optician was an adventure since I trusted them to help me pick out new frames that I might not have selected on my own. Since that time I hadn't needed a new pair of glasses so there was no urgency to find a new optician. However, recently I went into a certain optician storefront in a local mall and ended up standing around waiting for someone to come over to help me. When no one came over (i.e., they ignored me), I decided to go elsewhere.
I noticed that a couple of the opticians from my old opticians had decided to open up their own shop in South Boston, Two Opticians, and the old owner of Gopen was sending his customers there so I decided to check out the place. I recognized one of the owners as someone who had helped me pick out nice frames in the past; he was someone who had a good eye for what looked good and what looked bad...and why.
A good indicator of a small business is a proprietor who takes the time to know his customers and is willing to take the time to create loyal happy customers. If you want inexpensive, they'll sell you inexpensive. If you want quality, they'll sell you quality...and quality doesn't mean expensive. The guys at Two Opticians spent two hours with me going through a variety of frames until I finally settled on a pair of frames...it was really tough deciding between the last two choices. I arrived at the store an hour before they closed and I didn't leave until an hour after closing. And the owners didn't seem to care.
It was fairly tramatic to lose a business whom you've trusted for such a long time. I look forward to another long relationship with this new business. I highly recommend Two Opticians for your glasses. Check out their frames. And then check out what other opticians are charging for the same ones. And then check out what those boutiques on Newbury Street are charging for the same frames. The savings at Two Opticians will make it worth the return trip.
Unfortunately, they just withdrew and waited for the next unsuspecting crop of gullible noobie computer users to come out of the closet and blasted them with the most inane stories of evil plots to ruin the western world.
However, before these people try to rouse the world in a great crusade to right every wrong attributed to someone they're most likely to hate anyways, I really wish they'd stop and take a long breath of fresh air....and look at "All about Urban Legends".
Whenever I go to my opticians, I get one of those small "microfiber" cleaning clothes for cleaning my glasses. These cloths are quite soft and great for cleaning glasses and their size make it easier than carrying around a cotton towel around.
I just got a set of prescription swimming goggles, something I've always wanted. Now I can see as well underwater as if I was wearing my glasses. The goggles come in a neat drawstring bag made out of that same microfiber material. This is great because it doesn't scratch the lens on the goggles and now I'll always have something with which to clean the goggles (and my glasses) when I go swimming.
The optician at the optician store joked that they should make men's ties with that same microfiber material so we'd always have something to use to clean our glasses when we're dressed up. Anyone want to take that idea and run with it?