This morning I woke up and reached for my $350 pieces of cut glass wrapped in a plastic frame, or in other words, my glasses.

And if you think about it, that’s all they really are, two really expensive pieces of glass put in place by metal or plastic.

According to the Visual Consul of America (and yes, I was also surprised there is a whole council on vision), approximately 75 percent of adults use some sort of vision correction device.

And every year unknowing consumers shell out millions of dollars in the eye care industry.

From my first metal purple pair in kindergarten to the stylish blue and brown plastic pair I own now, I imagine my parents and I have spent at least $5,000 on eye care.

I remember going into the eye doctor as a child and walking out to the lobby to pick my new glasses off the reflective wall of model glasses going up to ceiling. But I was always limited to a certain wall because of the price.

It was like going to a candy store, but being told you could only buy the sugar free stuff.

While a good portion of us visually challenged people, including myself, now hide behind contacts, every few years we take a trip to the optometrist to have our eyes scanned, dilated and placed in close proximity to several horror movie-esque devices only to feel the real pain in our wallets.

When browsing popular eyeglass distributor’s websites, I found glasses ranging in price from $200 to $400 and some in the thousands.

While glasses are a necessary tool in millions of American’s lives, they have also become a fashion statement, something that the industry has noticed and taken advantage of.

The Italian company Luxottica owns more than 6,500 optical and sun retail stores around the world.

Luxottica does not have many competitors in the eyeglass industry and sells glasses through Lens crafters, Pearle Vision and high-end businesses like Prada and Ralph Lauren.

An optometrist is necessary for a prescription, but you do not have to purchase the over priced glasses available at the store.

Purchasing glasses online is a lot cheaper.

If you’re interested or just looking to buy some of those reasonably priced glasses, check out this blog at http://glassyeyes.blogspot.com/2007/07/luxottica-suxotticas.html.

The writer started the phenomena back in 2006 when he wrote about his previous misadventures with purchasing eyeglasses and how simple it was to purchase them online.

So do your research before you go out and buy.

The right to see should not be restricted by the depth of our pockets.

Emily Steele is a senior journalism major. She can be reached at 581-7942 or at

[email protected].