9: a note on stress

As a student of Sociology, some of the most fascinating aspects of studying abroad here in Vienna has been witnessing the structure of daily life. While I can't entirely understand all the nuances of what I see from day-to-day, I can attest to the general relaxed nature of many people I observe. It's not uncommon to see people in the USA who are suffering from physical stress - overworked, underpaid, often acting out in frustration towards their family, service workers and others. Road rage is common, even in a sleepy town like Davis, where people will scream and honk their horns voraciously while in cars. Now that I've been here ten days, I can honestly say I don't think I've heard a single car horn being honked. I see very little evidence of the physical stress that Americans suffer from on a daily basis, and the disposition of the average person on the street seems calmer. While ten days in a foreign country is certainly not long enough to form a theory on why this is, I offer the experience of visiting an eyeglasses shop with Professor Stuart, Heather, and Sareen.

To provide some backstory, Professor Stuart has a variety of vintage glasses frames that she has acquired from eBay, which she brings to Vienna to fill her prescription. Due to the complicated nature of her high prescription, she finds that she acquires better service overall here in Austria rather than in the USA. She took us to a combination store and optometrist's office, which was called Fielmann. I had never before seen anything like this - three stories, each filled with thousands of pairs of glasses. It was like the Herald Square Macy's in NYC, but for GLASSES.

Just a small section of the three stories of glasses.

Each panel (as pictured) contained *at least* 120 pairs of glasses. And there were rows and rows of these panels, across all stories and all over each room. My own optometrist back in Davis has but a small fraction of this to offer. And the prices - starting at a mere 16 euro!!! Obviously, some frames can run into the hundreds of euro, but "starter frames" were plentiful and cheap. The overwhelming amount of inventory was mind blowing to me, but perhaps what was most shocking was the time and care that the optometrist took to help Professor Stuart. She was there at least an hour, the doctor measured her face, did all sorts of experiments for fit, and took care and time to listen to her and her concerns. The exam itself seemed to be cheap or nearly free with the cost of lenses and frames. I don't think I've ever had an eye exam last longer than 15 minutes - it is usually very brisk and impersonal. 

Coming out of this store, I was speechless. I have had so many friends who put off getting eye exams due to the prohibitive cost (the very cheapest in the US being Walmart, at around ~$75.) That's not even including the price of frames or lenses, which will usually run hundreds more. Here, you can get a top quality exam for less than 20 euro. The selection was unmatched - I've never seen this many glasses in one place. 

The outing was eye-opening for me (no pun intended!) The USA's incredibly expensive and prohibitive medical system became very apparent, and I began to wonder: is this why people seem less stressed here? When your very health is not priced exorbitantly, when a minor inconvenience like shopping for glasses is a pleasant and relatively affordable experience...I wonder.