In 2007 at age 7 I was prescribed my first pair of glasses for Myopia after failing the vision exam in the first grade. I went thru the usual prescription changes and by age 14 in 2014 I was a -3 in both eyes. I never minded wearing glasses and in fact thought they were cool due to seeing some teenager wearing them when I was younger. At my routine eye exam at age 14 my Dad a contact lens wearer wanted me to try contacts and suggested it to my Dr. The Dr. asked me if I wanted to try contacts and when I said no. The Dr. told my Dad he would not fit contacts for a teenager that doesn’t want them so I was safe for another year. The next year with a different Dr. due to the old one retiring again contacts were suggested. By now I was a -4 and -4.25 and his Dr. was very pro contacts and told my Dad let’s have him try them which I was still against. I got contacts and a new pair of glasses. At my Dad’s urging I wore the contacts all the time except in the morning before putting them in and at night after taking them out. I could stand contacts and was actually praised by the Dr. at a follow up about how I handled them. I went all thru high school wearing contacts just as I had done before and many of my classmates had never seen me wearing glasses. One Saturday morning after getting my drivers license and a car I went to McDonalds to pick up breakfast and ran into a good friend from school who said when did you get glasses. I said age 7 but I had been wearing contacts for about the last 3 years. After graduating high school still wearing contacts with my vision now fairly stable at -5 for contacts I had to choose a college. I barely knew my Grandparents on my Dad’s side as they had both passed away when I was around 5 years old. My Grandparents on my Mom’s side had passed away before I was born. What I found out is there was money left for me (their only Grandchild) to go to college and a trust fund that I could easily live off the interest. The program I wanted was at a college 400 miles from where I lived with my parents who wanted me to get my own apartment but college rules stated freshman must live in the dorm unless local which of course I wasn’t. I drove my car to college by myself taking everything I needed with me. I of course was wearing contacts when I left my parents home but as soon as I got settled in the dorm I took them out and put my glasses on. I never wore contacts my freshman until going home for Thanksgiving break. When I put my contacts in the morning I was driving home my roommate who never knew I wore them was surprised. I explained I never wanted contacts but was pressured to get them by my parents especially my Dad who wore them himself. My roommate who wore thick Myopic glasses jokingly asked if I wanted to trade parents. He had to rely on his parents to pay for college and they are very much anti contacts. I went home for the break again only wearing glasses late at night or in the morning. After the break I drove back to college and since my parents had to leave before I did that morning I never put my contacts in sticking with glasses. At college I stuck to glasses only and when it was time to go home for Christmas break I made a big decision. I decided as an adult I was going to stand up to my parents and tell them I’m not going to wear contacts anymore. I drove the 8 hours home wearing my glasses and walked in the house. When my Dad asked why glasses instead of contacts I told him it was my decision as an adult. I told both my Dad and Mom I was not going to wear contacts anymore. My Dad who thought I liked wearing contacts said let me explain why I wanted you get them. When my Dad was 14 he wanted contacts and his parents said no even though they could easily afford them. My Dad though he didn’t need to work as a teenager started at Dairy Queen telling his parents it was for something to do in the summer. The real reason came out after my Dad turned 18. On that birthday my Dad went to the eye Dr. and was fitted for contacts. His parents didn’t like the idea of my Dad doing this but since he was 18 there was nothing they could do about it and in time came around to it. My parents even my Dad surprisingly told me this was the decision he made in reverse and were ok with it. Today I’m a 19 year old college sophomore wearing glasses and not contacts with the same roommate. My roommate worked during the summer at home saving up his money and when he got back to college had the contact lens fitting he had wanted since age 11. Funny thing is after wearing contacts for a short time he gave up and went back to glasses. My roommate didn’t like the feel or the care required for contacts.
https://vision-and-spex.com/i-didn-t-want-contacts-then-or-now-t1294.html