I've been looking to pick up a pair of glasses lately to mix up my face a bit and I found a pair of nice Ralph Lauren's that look great, but they're $200 for the frames alone. Expensive, but I want 'em. Looking for coupons, I see on Lenscrafters.com that some program called "AARP" allows members to get 30% off a set of prescription glasses. I jump on their website, glance over some information and that see a yearly subscription is only $12! Damn, I think, I'll save at least $150 with a 30% discount! So, I sign up -- it's quick and easy; name, address, phone number, some minor personal information (sex, age), my credit card information and that's that.
Today in Lenscrafters, I pick out the glasses and I present a print-out of my AARP account information (I didn't want to wait for them to send me a membership card) to receive my 30% discount. The woman ringing up the sale mentions to me that she's having difficulty finding my account. She appears to be
very new, possibly even the first day on the job. I inform her that I just signed up last night and that my account may not yet be processed. After another 10 - 15 minutes of waiting, she finally says she found it and takes down my lens and frame order. Money exchange is done at a different location in the store and is handled by a more experienced employee. The man ringing me up notices my receipt and questions, "she gave you a AARP discount?"
"Yeah, I have an account."
"Aren't you a little young to be a AARP member?
I reach in my pocket for my print-out. "Errr... well, I--"
"Nevermind, I don't even want to see it."
*cha-ching* $170 discount and I'm on my way. This gets me thinking, I don't even know what the fuck the AARP is. I call my mother and she gives me the skinny. AARP stands for
American Association of Retired Persons, a non-profit organization dedicated, at its most basic level, to assisting seniors with health care discounts and special member benefits.
Am I abusing the system? Is this why the elderly can't have nice things? Is the AARP going to figure out eventually that I'm only 24 and have only had a
real job for like 14 months in my entire life and make me pay the difference, or worse, send a bunch of dirty geriatrics to my house to kick my ass? They have my birthdate! It's part of the sign up process! It's possible that the sales person, in her frustration, chose a random AARP account to tie my order to, so it may not even be attached to me. Is Lenscrafters going to question me when I go in tomorrow to pick up my glasses? Whatever shall I do!?
