Getting New Specs

If you have ever walked along Madero, the pedestrian street in the Historic Center of Mexico City, you probably recall the many guys trying to get you to go to one the optician's offices along the street.  "¡Lentes en una hora!" "Glasses in an hour!"

Shortly before my departure to Mexico, I had an appointment with my ophthalmologist.  My eyes had not changed much, but my current glasses are getting rather scratched up.  I asked for the prescription so that I could get a new pair.  I figured that I could probably get the glasses at a cheaper price down here, so I took the prescription with me.  

I asked Alejandro where he gets his glasses, and he said at one of the innumerable opticians along Madero Street.  Last Sunday he asked me if I wanted to go downtown to the place where he goes.  We came to this building. 

The building is at least five stories high.  "Gandhi", a chain of bookstores, occupies most of the ground floor.  If you go in through another entrance to the left, there is an elevator which takes you to the "ópticas" which occupy all of the upper floors.  We got off at the 4th floor (which in the U.S. would be the 5th floor) and entered "Óptica Miranda".

The young man who waited on us recognized Alejandro from his earlier visits.  He took my prescription and discussed my options.  I told him I wanted progressive, transition lenses.  He had me look at frames, and even though they had wide selection to choose from, it didn't take me long to find one that I liked.  The cost for the lenses and designer frames were probably one third less than what I would pay back home at Lenscrafters.  Plus, these lenses included protection from the "blue light" of computers, something I don't think my current glasses have.  Of course, I knew that I would not have my glasses in an hour.  The progressive, transition lenses always require more time.  Sometime next week I should have my brand new glasses.