I have just experienced something strange….
I spend lots of time traveling, and about six months ago I was chatting with Chris French about the things I always carry with me (e.g., back-up mobile phone, throat spray, and several large soft toys). Chris said that he carried a spare pair of glasses in his car, and it occurred to me that it would be good for me to travel with another pair of glasses.
I forgot all about the conversation until the day before yesterday. I was due to speak at a workshop on the psychology of belief in Cambridge, and knew that Chris would be there. Whilst packing I suddenly remembered our ‘glasses’ conversation and so put my spare pair in my suitcase.
So, I arrived in Cambridge, checked into the accommodation and decided to have a shower. I took off my glasses and placed them on a counter in the bathroom. When I emerged from the shower, my glasses were broken clean in half!
Three explanations have been running through my mind
1) It was simply a strange coincidence (the only time I pack a spare pair of glasses, my existing ones break in half for no obvious reason).
2) My optician is trying to create business because of the recession. She followed me to Cambridge, crept into my bathroom and broke my glasses.
3) There is another explanation that I haven’t thought of.
What do you think? Together, we can solve this mystery. In the meantime, here is a picture of my broken glasses….
Scientologists!
Could it be the heating and cooling from the shower?
I guess it’s a possibility, but I would like to point out that I have had a shower before.
Given your penchant for luck and quirkology, I’d just chalk it up to another day in the life of Richard Wiseman.
Ask Uri Geller. *runs and hides*
1. chris french snuck in
2. the vindictive maid
3. you were drunk – anything could have happened
4. all the above
Chris wanted to see if you’d remembered his conversation. So he snuck into your room and sabotaged your specs in order for you to retell the conversation and this coincidence or watch you give the talk with geek specs. http://is.gd/nX02
… or a clumsy maid.
It’s an optical illusion.
1. you are testing us and this post belongs to the fiction category
2. it was cold outside, your glasses are worn out, and the steam of the hot shower made it expand too fast and magically break clean right in the middle
3. or someone’s playing a prank on you
I think its like “The Secret”, when you decided you needed a spare that is the energy you put out into the universe. So that is what the universe gave you.
You’ve read that book, right?
Could be that you were simply less careful with your glasses, knowing you had the spare pair with you, and put them down more roughly than you would otherwise have done. A subconscious priming effect, with which I’m sure you’re more familiar than I.
Richard, this just demonstrates what a good piece of advice you were given.
I been working in an opticians for ten years and we have never had anyone say that their glasses have just broken like that! Those type of glasses are made from quite tough plastic – did you drop them when you put them down?
I’d say this is what Cambridge can do to you. I’ve been a student there for three years and things like that happen all the time.
Seeing the number of ghostly alumni at Cambridge, it’d be hard to know who is responsible. Personally, I’d go for Thomas de Quincey, just because he was a psycho. But someone like Darwin could have done it, just because it’s his anniversary year so he can do whatever he wants.
I did it. I apologize.
Large soft toys? Did you feed them after midnight?
You may have been subconsciously aware that your glasses were getting worn out, which was why French’s suggestion of packing a spare appealed to you on this instance. I suspect that the bridge (is a lie!) is where most of the tension in a pair of spectacles is located, so although it’s certainly dramatic it is not necessarily surprising that they would break at that point. I agree with brydle too that you were more careless with them because you had your spare pair with you. I once got a two-for-one offer on pairs of contact lenses and, on day three, chemically welded a new pair to my previous old pair that I had kept for no good reason. Wracked with guilt, but I never did a foolish thing with the second pair. Freeclimbers have fewer accidents. Usually just one.
I also wonder if the glasses had been broken and then mended, possibly without your knowledge… Finger points at Chris!
Also, I find it amusing that Chris is prepared for sudden spectacle failure, but has a devil of a time getting Powerpoint to work. Hem hem.
I agree with Lafayette, a crack could have been developing for some time, which you may have subconsciously picked up on.
BTW I used to work in an opticians, like an earlier poster, and it wasn’t rare for people to come in saying they were on holiday and had just broken their glasses. They would want an instant replacement, which we couldn’t do. Always take a spare pair!
I’m thinking Hans might be right. If take a look at the surface area of the join under a magnifying glass you might get some hints as to the cause of the fracture.
http://www.tech.plym.ac.uk/sme/interactive_resources/tutorials/FailureAnalysis/index.html
It’s obviously a coincidence of spectacular importance.
Maybe something fell onto them as you were in the shower, like a bottle of shampoo or something like that. Was there anything heavy enough lying about on the floor after you noticed the broken glasses? If not, I support the ‘heat of the shower made weak spot crack’ theory stated above.
…Either that, or your spare glasses got jealous of the pair that had the privilege of residing on your nose, snuck in and murdered them. That’s what you get for bringing the evil twins of your glasses, you know.
Hummm…..no, there was nothing near them. It was just an empty bathroom in student accomm…..not sure that I buy the heat theory……could just be a crack, I guess, but no idea if that works for plastic.
It has to be said that the spare pair look the jealous kind.
Can we see a photo of you in the spare glasses so that we can decide whether we like them or not? Maybe we could have a vote to choose your replacement glasses.
When we feel extra security, we tend to behave a bit more recklessly, consciously or not. It could be that, as you were hopping in the shower, you were a bit rougher with your glasses than you realized, because unconsciously you knew a spare pair was waiting nearby. Self-fulfilling preparedness?
Or, as you said, it could simply be a strange coincidence. I see your glasses frames are made of unreinforced resin/acrylate/some kind of plastic. It could be that it was simply their time, what with all the changes in altitude, temperature and humidity you expose them to during your travels.
Loki the trickster did it. That must be the answer.
I blame the wandering pac-mac ghost from the other day.
Richard,
This has happened to me a few times: a) The arm of a guitar (made of wood); b) the arms (two arms – levers) of a crystal chandelier (interval of one week between the first and the second event); c) A Wine glass (crystal also). I can only think this is due to internal stress of the materials naturally which tends to a relieved status… or due to their oxidation which makes these materials less resistant and resilient (mechanically).
If you hadn’t been thinking about bringing along an extra pair of glasses, would this event have been so strange?
Seems like remarkable timing!
Maybe you actually witnessed the break but your brain overwrote the experience in favor of the surreal happening and the excitement you would have felt on discovering the the coincidence.
I had a pair of glasses break like that once… but it was minus 15C and they fell off my nose. I guess that doesn’t really apply here… But do be assured, plastic can crack and break in cold temperatures with just the gentlest of nudges!
I think it was probably just a coincidence that only seemed remarkable in light of the other things that were happening, but that’s pretty boring and it’s more fun to imagine it might be something else.
1. You ran out of blog post ideas and decided to fabricate this whole story, just like the Moon landings.
2. The frame broke as you put it down (its time had come), but you could not see this without your glasses.
Heat? That’s an impressively hot shower. The air in the bathroom, being a poor thermal conductor, must have become superheated.
I’d guess the glasses were already weakened and broke as they were placed down.
I used to wear glasses; I have since gotten Lasik surgery. Here is my suggestion, as this very thing has happened to me twice: The bridge of my nose where my glasses rested seemed to retain more sweat and oil then the rest of the frame, and the plastic weakened there. If you had noticed, as I did, the bridge and the lower sides that rest on the nose always required the most cleaning. I cannot say just how old your glasses were, but I do know that oils weaken plastic. Perhaps you set them down too hard one too many times. By the way, you do not mention if you set them down as pictured, or upside down as suggested by most optometrists. This, too, could be a clew to divining the stresses placed on the frames.
Mr. Richard Wiseman
I apollogize the fact of your glasses been broken.
Some days ago i also went to cambridge. I remember i sit down beside someone who has a bold and wearing glasses.
At the first time, i only felt kind of hard stuff in my bottom. Then i stand up and i noticed that i had broke this glasses to the man where i sit beside. I guess it´s your glasses cause i went to cambridge the same day you did.
I’m really sorry. I really didn’t want to. Then I picked them up and put in your bag suddenly. you didn’t see it. but i put it right inside your bag as i told you.
I’m very sad mr. Richard. here’s my adress and i will pay you some new.
rua de sta. apolónia, 1233 2º dto. Lisboa Portugal
thanks for your understanding
I agree that you probably realised that the specs were getting a bit old and likely to break.
I’d further suggest that you’d been subconsciously intending to start carrying spares for a while and the conversation brought this intention to the surface, as it were.
The timing of the breaking seems coincidental only if you discount the above.
Incidentally, I’ve carried spare specs for years and never used them!