business 101

Memorable Moments

Stephanie K. De Long

When working in optical, one of the biggest payoffs—and, some days, punishments—is interacting with clients.

Following are some of your dispensing experiences—funny touching, star-studded, or simply strange—you responded with tales aplenty.

Thanks for sharing.

A NEW WORLD

A three-year-old girl I'll call “Katie” came to our office with her mother and an Rx for her first pair of glasses. She was about a +6.00.

When she came back to pick them up, Katie was wearing a pretty floral dress. We fit the glasses to her head, and I'll never forget the expression on her face as she studied mine.. .and it hit me that I was probably the first person she'd ever seen clearly!

She looked down at the flowers on her dress, touching them gently with her fingers as if they were real. She was smiling from ear to ear!

The realization of what caused this miracle dawned on her, and she pulled the glasses up slightly to see what things looked like without them, and she frowned a bit. She let go of them, letting them rest on her nose once again, and instantly the beaming smile came back!

Though she never said a word, her actions spoke volumes to her mother and me. “She can see for the first time!” her mother cried. “We'll never forget this!” And neither have I.

— Debbie Franks, optometric technician, Milton-Edgewood Eye Clinic (formerly Franz Optical), Milton, Wash.

CRAZED LENSES

A couple came in to voice their displeasure with their progressive lenses and premium AR coating. Their lenses were crazed, almost opaque, and the husband complained how they could not have possibly done anything to damage them.

After about 10 minutes, however, they finally fessed up that they were at a grill-your-own-steak place and, after several drinks, decided it was time to cook. They got their faces too close to the grill and the heat crazed the lenses. I had a hard time keeping my composure as I explained how heat and AR don't mix. They then asked why there were no warning signs at the restaurant for people like them. This gives new meaning to the words “well done.”

—Name withheld

TELL ME WHY…

A longtime neighborhood business owner came in recently. He asked me, “Kathy why should I come to your office when I can go to a [wholesale warehouse] and get an exam and two pairs of glasses for one low price?”

I had been asked that question before and responded, “The warehouse has just that—plenty of space to inventory more items than we could ever imagine having room for. We are lucky that they are in the eyewear business, because we are in the eye health business! You can buy glasses from us all day, but our staff and Dr. W will always put your eye health before anything else. I don't think you can put a dollar figure on that.”

He's become a returning patient, and never even wants to talk price.

— Kathryn Pettit, financial care coordinator, Moreland Vision Center, Portland, Ore.