Maybe it's because I've been wearing glasses for literally as long as I can remember, but wearing glasses sounds much better than dry eyes and loss of night vision.
What kind of glasses are people wearing that makes it worth the substantial risk that they'll end up with chronically dry eyes. Especially when you'll he wearing them again anyway in a decade or two.
I didn't mind wearing glasses at all, or even contacts (although they caused dry eyes). What I minded the most about glasses was my dependency on them, and the fact that I'd be dead in the water if anything happened to them. Having a contingency plan was a part of everything I did; having a second pair on me, avoiding activities that risked my glasses if I didn't, dealing with them at the beach/pool/water activities, etc. I went through a lot of glasses growing up, and also had several ruined vacations and social situations due to something happening and becoming a lame duck reliant on other people to get me squared away. Although not consciously, I very definitively became more risk averse over time to avoid those situations.
The most profound impact of getting eye surgery was the complete and utter removal of that dependency, and the cognitive overhead that came along with it. Not that it seemed like a big deal at the time, as I spent decades accounting for it. But now I just don't think about my eye sight anymore. It's a small and subtle thing, but profoundly impactful on my quality of life in a way that I didn't even realize prior to surgery.
And when I have to start wearing glasses again, it'll be contextual need due to gradual degradation of my eyesight rather than an absolute dependency on them for every aspect of my waking hours.
I'm not sure I'd have made the same decision if eye surgery would have only been an incremental improvement in vision for me, but wanted to provide some insight into why some people would choose eye surgery, even with a high potential of side effects.
I always have a backup pair with me in the car, and I take 2 backup pairs on vacation, usually packed in 2 separate bags.
I also take spare shoes (even for day trips) because I can't buy another pair easily if something happens to mine--they don't sell shoes big enough in normal stores.
You obviously evaluated the risks differently, but to me not needing to pack an extra pair of glasses isn't worth the substantial, potentially life altering risk of severe dry eyes (not to mention blindness).
I know some people who've had the surgery, and who are happy with it, but it's not for me. I find disturbing the casualness that patients and medical practices have approached this kind of eye surgery. The rapidity of the procedure and the short recovery times, makes it easy to forget that this is major elective surgery on a vital organ. There's just too much that can go wrong. Glasses are a bit annoying, but that's the limit of it. I don't want to be reminded everyday how good I had it back when I wore glasses, as I put in eye drops every 15 minutes for the rest of my life, or have to have someone drive me around at night, or whatever else could go wrong. Medical procedures become more refined, safer and less invasive all the time. I'll wait until surgery is a necessity and enjoy the benefits of years of medical advancements between now and when that time comes.
You don't have to buy them. Regular disposables are very cheap, but toric lenses are not cheap.
In most other ways, my vision is good, and I don't have night artifacts. Would take a lot for those to be worth it.
After using them for a while, I agree.