June 26, 2018 - News Post

I traveled by plane recently.

There was a guy across the aisle who spent the whole flight napping. Before his nap, he removed his glasses, and placed them onto the tray in front of him.

The frames were absolutely identical to mine. Same style, same color, same maker.

I’ve worn corrective lenses of one kind or another since I was 11 years old. In all that time, not once have I encountered someone who wore the exact same glasses as me. I didn’t have a chance to try them on, but I have little doubt the prescription would match as well.

I spent 5 hours staring at those glasses. They were beautiful, clearly chosen by a connoisseur of eyewear. When the flight ended, he put them on, got up, and waited for the plane to clear.

I tried for quite some time to catch his eye, but he kept looking to the front of the plane. Finally, we locked bespeckled eyes.

“Nice glasses.” I said, pushing up my own in the most obvious way I could.

He stared through me, grabbed his bags, and left.

Although some may view this as a failed once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I do not. For on that day, I learned one important thing from this brief interaction:

The glasses looked better on me.

-Jeff