No Matter Who You Are

I like to think that if I was very wealthy, I would still be careful with my money.  The truth is, if that were true, we wouldn't be where we are now.

At any rate, I do hope that I will be a discerning customer, a conscientious consumer, and a generous citizen.  And it is in this fantasy role, that I bring you the following story.

I am thankful that for the lack of income, we enjoy pretty decent benefits.  They aren't what we had in another state, but state laws differ.  So there.  They are still decent.

No matter how good they are, I treat the expenditure like it is right out of my pocket.

So you can imagine my surprise when I too the kids to have their eyeglass prescriptions filled and found that though I had paid only the $15 co-pay for the Small Fry's and around $30 total out-of-pocket for Diva M's, that they would be $85 and $200 respectively at the "Fast Place in the Mall".

I said, "I will keep shopping; thank you for your time."

We stopped at the "Big Anchor Store That Sells Everything From Support Hose To Car Batteries".  The elderly lady on the phone, the waiting customer and the fact that they didn't have a room, but just a recess in the wall, caused me to turn on my worn down heel and walk out.

Of course, *sigh*, we ended up at The "Discount Store We All Hate But Can't Ignore".  The slow speaking clerk didn't start off to inspire any type of confidence.  Really, I could discern that she thought I was ignorant and uneducated.  Really? She began to warm up when she realized that I have insurance and a flexible medical spending account.

The insurance, for reasons all its own, only covers new frames for 7 year-old boys, every two (2) years.  Small Fry is not as rough as most of his age mates, but that is ridiculous.  I was feeling all expansive and sprung for new frames because the ones he has have made me crazy from the first moment.  They have never fit right and are all that flexible wire and we can get them adjusted every day and they just relax back into out of place.

Her first pair of glasses came from there, her second pair came from the place with the car batteries.  She has never lost or broken a pair because of negligence.  The first pair broke because it gave out.  Insurance had changed to something that no one else in my whole town had heard of...  Since then, the firm has changed again because that one sucked.

Total expenditure after insurance for a full pair of children's glasses and one full adult pair: $39.  Same insurance, same prescriptions.  Perfectly acceptable level of quality assured through previous experience.

Long overdue... WIN!!!