There are other reasons beside power that lenses can be out of spec. A
lens can also be out of spec because of optical flaws. The big box
optical stores usually use the cheapest lab they can find and often
suggest plastic lenses because they are cheaper to buy. Plastic lenses
require very tight process temperature control or they will warp. A
warped lens causes distortion and uneven correction.

And the worst part is that the stores will try to tell you that the
lenses are OK if you have a problem. My buddys wife got an exam and a
new pair of glasses from a big box store. She complained that her vision
wasn't right and she was getting headaches. The big box place told her
that the lenses were OK and she needed to "adjust" to them. I gave the
glasses to a friend who could check them where he worked. He said the
lenses were warped. My buddys wife called the store asking for a
complete refund. They refused until she mentioned that she had the
glasses checked and it was found that the lenses were flawed.

There have been studies that have shown that patients are routinely
"over-minused" in a short room.  The theory is that even when the
letters are compensated for in size, the patient involuntarily
accomodates to respond to the closeness of the wall on the other end of
the short room.  Hence, it isn't just lenscrafters that tends to
overminus a patient, but instead any refraction done in a short room
tends to be overcorrected.  Since Lenscrafters tend to be in big, high
rent malls where space is very expensive to rent, short exam rooms are
more common in that environment.

What's a troll?  From the context I assume it's someone who is bored
and just wants to argue so posts to as many people as possible just to
cause trouble.

hehe

Naw. I've never been to Lenscrafters either and though I'm right
handed, my left eye is dominant, the right is slightly weaker (or
astigmatic and it's usually been corrected by a slightly stronger
prescription for that eye).

sue

Interesting.....I'm lefthanded & my right eye is weaker.

Think I'll stay away from CraftyLens. They don't hire craftsmen to do
the actual grinding. They use unskilled minimum wage labor.

Be honest with us, Wooly.  I think you're trying to pull a fast one over
on this group.  You know the truth is that you just need to walk by one of
these places and *BOOM* your left eye is weaker than your right.  Isn't
that really what happened, Wooly?

Doesnt prove a lot about what happens over say 40 years.

Couple possibles here:

1) "Staircase myopia" has a strong genetic component (this could blow
gaping holes in the theories so vigorously espoused by some s.m.v.
contributors)

2) You work aboard a tiny ship amid the vastness of the ocean.
Nothing that you have to see is ever any closer than infinity

Am I close?  ;-)

Well they should do whatever you say, afterall they're ruining your
eyes and making you pay for it.

That is sick, optometry should be illegal.  They should make the kid
sign something that says the FDA + glasses company assumes no
responsibility for any damage caused by glasses.