CLE Contact Lenses

By Steven Odierno

Who is the bigger hero?

We have all heard the terms:
Some days your are the hammer, and some days you are the nail.
Or, some days you are the windshield, and some days you are the bug.
Like many others out there in business, in recent months, I have felt like the bug on a windshield with a nail being driven through my insect-body by an enormous hammer. In the car this morning, these feelings, for some reason, got me thinking about the simple nature of the juxtaposition of these things: hammer and windshield vs. nail and bug.

Nowhere is the simplicity of black and white more evident and clear than it is in comic books and cartoons. My son is 3-and-a-half years old. He LOVES the Batman, Superman, and Justice League cartoons. Scarily (or maybe fortunately) enough, after having had to endure countless hours of these shows with him, I have regained an affinity for the Superheroes of my own youth. I believe that it is the formulaic nature of the shows that make them seem either engaging (to my son and I) or incredibly boring (to most normal people). There is a good guy/girl and there is a bad guy/girl. The bad guy/girl has some power that briefly puts the Superhero in a perilous position. But, ultimately, and without any real doubt, the superior powers of the hero prevail and the good guy/girl wins - every single time - walking away with nary a scratch.

While both as a child and still now I find this entertaining, even as an adolescent it struck me as unrealistic. (More than just the obvious stuff, like flying.) Something just did not resonate with me. The people that I knew were not like these Superheroes. While I recognized then as I do now that all have special talents, no one is indestructible. We all hurt, physically and emotionally. And we all win sometimes . . . but we all also lose.

That is why my favorite superhero is Wile E. Coyote.
“Wile E. Coyote?” you ask. He is not a hero, is he? Isn’t he the scrawny, scruffy-looking villain always out to get the beloved Roadrunner? And did he not always fail, usually ending up on the wrong end of a fallen boulder or strapped to an explosive rocket? The answer to these questions is, of course, “Yes.”
But to me, Wile E. Coyote represents something more, something far more identifiable than Superman or Batman ever could. He is, in many ways, like me and those that I know. He does not have any super-powers (other than an incredibly high tolerance for pain): in fact, he is driven only by the most most basic of desires: to survive. Quite simply, he is hungry, and the Roadrunner is the only meal to found on the desolate desert landscape.

What strikes me even more, though, is that he never stops and is relentless in the pursuit of his goal. Imagine always being the bug and always being the nail, but never giving up. No matter how horrific a fate he suffers, Wile E. Coyote is always back after a brief commercial break to pursue the Roadrunner with the same passion and vigor as before. He has no memory of his failures - he simply moves past them and tries again. (One might argue that he never learns from his mistakes, but that wouldn’t make the cartoon any fun to watch.) He actually believes he will catch the Roadrunner each time.
The point of these ramblings, I think, is that in order to survive these tumultuous and trying economic times, we must adopt some of the characteristics of Wile E. Coyote. We must continue to be driven, have a relatively high tolerance for emotional distress, be relentless in pursuit of our goals, never lose our passion, and, most importantly, be resilient.

In this spirit, I, along with some partners, have recently stopped asking “who moved our mortgage cheese” and acquired one of the most established and respected online contact lens Web sites, CLE Contact Lenses. So, if you happen to be in need of contact lenses at a great price, we hope that you will stop by.

Either way, happy hunting.
Steve Odierno is an entrepreneur and a Principal Owner of Eye Care Associates, LLC., operator of http://www.clecontactlenses.com, a Fully Licensed Contact Lens Retailer serving the online community since 1998. Steve is a graduate of Boston College and Fordham University and resides in New York with his wife and two children.

Comments(8)

It’s rough out there for sure. With the economy on the ropes people are looking for any way to cut expenses, shave a buck from here and ten from there. My question to you today is: are you being an April fool and paying too much for items like contact lenses, lens solutions and lens removers?

In a recent eye care survey a staggering statistic was identified and that is - more than 44% of American consumers still purchase their contact lenses & supplies at retail prices. Whether they purchase these staple items from their eye doctor or retail stores – the fact remains, nearly half of all consumers are paying more than they need to for contact lenses and lens solutions.

With the advent of the internet and online shopping an efficiency tool was introduced to nearly every industry in the world. Now, intelligent consumers can benefit greatly from access to the internet and the thousands of established, online retailers that sell everything from books to contact lenses.

In the same survey, the average 5 star rated eye care website has saved the consumer an average of 39% on their contact lenses and eye care product purchases for a total estimated savings of $79,450,233 dollars. A second benefit identified in the survey was the convenience of ordering online. How much does it cost you in time, energy, gas and aggravation to make a special trip to get your lenses & solutions? When the pure cost savings were averaged with the “convenience factor” of buying online – the real estimated cost savings has been quantified at as much as 69% over purchasing these items in the traditional, full mark – retail setting.

So why do people still avoid the savings and convenience of purchasing these items online? The survey indicated that the # 1 reason was - buying habits, once established are hard to break. The #2 reason was that the consumer just didn’t fully trust that they would receive the same product and/or service. So how can you, a consumer paying too much, face these fears and join the millions of people that are saving tens of millions of dollars by purchasing their eye care items online?

1) Do your homework: Find a website that you can count on. One that has been in business for 10 or more years. One that has a customer satisfaction program. One that has an affiliate relationship with a mainstream site like Amazon.com. One that can assure you of the quality of its products. One that is owned by eye care professionals.
2) Don’t make price the only consideration in your final decision: While there are sites that may offer the “lowest” price, it is important to make sure that these sites have been in business for a while and will stand behind their product with a 100% customer satisfaction guarantee.

Saving money is a process. A process that can take time but one that will enable you to take the April fools hat off and see more money & time in your “pocket” at the end of each month.

Comments(9)