Permission Slip Products

I’ve reached that certain age where I need reading glasses.

So recently, I went to Target and picked up a three-pack. I was surprised to find them selling next to candy and bubble gum.

That experience stuck with me, as it felt nothing like my last visit to the eye doctor.

For glasses to read, there was no appointment.  Just grab and checkout.

For glasses to see, well…

The industrial-looking machines.  The familiar routine of “one or two” and “three or four.”  Clicking a button when I spot a red barn like I’m on Jeopardy.

Then the LVMH-like showroom of frames, most of them just past my budget, followed by insurance that doesn’t quite cover it all.

Glasses are glasses, until they’re not.

So I have to ask, how is it that glasses for seeing require a medical appointment, while glasses for reading are an impulse purchase?

A 20/20 Process

The U.S. eyewear market is estimated at roughly $65 billion. Reading glasses alone make up a big chunk of that, around $16 billion.

According to industry studies, more than half of people who visit an optometrist do not need an updated prescription, even after five years.

I’m in that group.

Which means I went through an eye exam, and all that comes with it, knowing that the likely outcome was “no change.”

It’s hard not to question who this process is designed for.

The Permission Slip Product

This product divide shows up everywhere once you start looking for it.

And when you start noticing permission slip products, you’ll start experiencing the Frequency Illusion of seeing them everywhere.

If you need to send a document overnight that requires a real, wet signature, you’re paying for FedEx tracking.  Sending a postcard to your mother from vacation?  A stamp does the trick.

(Send Mom a postcard, guys. She misses you!)

Custom orthotics require an evaluation and a specialist.  Want a squishier feel when you walk? You can buy Dr. Scholl’s inserts without a second thought.  

They’re usually next to the reading glasses.

Need a place to put your rakes and tools?  You can buy a small storage shed for your backyard at Home Depot, Lowe’s, or Costco.  

Want to add five feet to the side of your garage for those same tools?  Suddenly you’re at City Hall, filing permits and waiting on approvals.

Have a headache? Take an aspirin.  Headaches continue?  Maybe it’s time for a triptan prescription, along with a scan to rule anything else out.

There are examples abound that affect almost every industry.

Even in my trade we see it.  You can visit any hardware store and buy gloves to pull weeds, install that Tough Shed you just purchased, or move boxes.

If you work in a facility cutting metal or dealing with heat, those gloves are not allowed anywhere near the job.  Someone else decides what you wear to meet exact standards.

Now I See

In each case, the difference is margin for error, or how much room there is to be wrong.

If reading glasses are off by a little, you squint, toss them in a drawer, and purchase something different.

If prescription lenses are off, that follows you all day, every day.

Corrective lenses are listed on your driver’s license.  A waiter at the restaurant doesn’t really care if you have trouble reading the menu.

And Then There’s What’s Coming Next

Is this the year smart glasses finally take off?  AI-enabled frames that listen, translate, record, and assist are moving from “I’d never wear that” into a real category of products.

Soon, glasses that simply help you read could also capture video, process information, and feed it back to you in real time.

When that happens, the line between permission product and impulse buy blurs like the bottom line of an eye chart.

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Stay safe out there!