"Sipping tea = instant fog." 17 things all glasses wearers know to be true on a cellular level.

A life lived through prescription glasses comes with its own unique set of challenges.

Hot drinks and dishwasher steam are roadblocks to daily life, as is driving, vigorous exercise, drastic temperature changes and eye makeup.

Some turn to contact lenses – which come with their own problems – while others accept the blurry, vision-impaired hand they’ve been dealt and wear their four-eyed (no disrespect) status with pride.

It doesn’t mean we can’t complain about it. Far from it.

We asked the small, but vocal, glasses-wearing community at Mamamia to air their grievances, and like a cleaning cloth on a pair of smudged specs, they did not hold back.

Life with and without glasses… our fellow four-eyed friend (no disrespect) will understand:

1. “Paying a lot to go overseas and snorkel, and then realising you can’t see anything.” Rikki
2. “When people ask to try on your glasses and say, ‘WOW YOU’RE SO BLIND’. Thanks.” Elise
3. “Swapping in the prescription sunnies and forgetting to swap back to the normal ones, so you go into shops wearing sunnies and have to explain to the guy behind the counter that you’re not a celebrity arsehole, you just can’t see without them.” Claire
4. “When non-glasses wearers say, ‘I wish I needed glasses.'” Briony
5. “When you sip tea / open the oven / empty the dishwasher/ run for the bus / attempt exercise/ cook / eat soup and are blinded by the fog.” Everyone
6. “When you realise there are people who get to walk around in the world being able to see for free.” Elise
7. “‘Can I try your glasses on?’ Sure, shrink my world to the 10cm radius around my face that I can actually see in focus… that’s not anxiety inducing at all.” Claire
8. “The struggle of driving at night even with your glasses because #GLARE, and when you find out not everyone sees those lines coming out of car lights at night. You just have astigmatism”. Isabella
9. “Doing a face mask is unnecessarily difficult unless you want to get goop all over your frames. Alas, you are able to take the sheet mask selfie to a whole new level.” Jess.
10. “When it’s time to shop for a new pair of glasses, so you try on 500 pairs, feel completely overwhelmed at the decision and long term commitment. So you ultimately walk out with a headache, and wear your old ones for another year.” Elle
11. “Ruining the moment when you and your fellow glasses-wearing partner feel like making out, so you stop kissing, take off your glasses and go ‘where were we?'” Adam
12. “Having to find a large, colourful landmark to sit next to at the beach so that when you come out of the water you can find your stuff.” Belinda
13. “When non-glasses wearers say, ‘I wish I needed glasses.'” Briony
14. “I once went to a ‘trampoline world’ place, and was only allowed to jump if I wore protective goggles over the top of my glasses. Mortifying.” Elle
15. “Getting the dreaded glasses imprint on your nose which ruins your foundation.” Maddie
16. “When someone says ‘wow you look so weird/pretty/different’ without your glasses on and… 1) Thanks, that’s my face and 2) You also look pretty when I don’t have my glasses on.” Elise.
17. “Having to always commit to the bigger private health insurance package because you need optical.” Rikki
18. “The paranoia of driving without your glasses and worrying you’ll get pulled over when your license says you’re blind.” Briony

Are you a fellow glasses wearer who can relate? Tell us your worst experience in a comment below.