4 Eyes...

Manning's turn today....

On the day of our departure from SFO at an altitude of about 30,000 feet my glasses broke.  Not a full on break (like in two) but the annoying kind, in which one of the nose supports snapped off.  Although the metal piece now rested on my skin, I figured I could live with it for a while - and what option did I have anyway?  It's been two months now and I've tried bending it and wrapping it with tape in various ways but to no avail, it ultimately comes loose and hurts!  Last weekend was pretty much the last straw - I just wanted to enjoy Tabaski (blog post coming) and not be bothered by that annoying ache on the bridge of my nose.  

So...today while walking down the street, I remembered there are these little booths on some of the sidewalks with trays and trays of used glasses (frames, lenses and full glasses).  I had a little time until I needed to pick up the boys from school, so I stopped by one and described my problem in French.  In a matter of minutes they had removed the one remaining nose-pad and was looking for suitable replacements.  When he removed the screws and nose pad and just sort of dropped them somewhere, I did get a little worried!  While he was doing that, I asked his assistant about the tools of the trade.  They had: needle nosed pliers, linemen pliers, a glass cutter (hand type), stationary glass cutter and various grits of sand paper.  He then demonstrated how easily he can cut the glass lens, snap it in two and sand it to size.  He quickly gave me a demonstration for glass and plastic.  By then my glasses were finished, screws tightened and lenses cleaned.  All for $2. 

Wow! is all I can say.  Simple repairs OR Custom glasses in minutes (on the street no less)