Why recommend safety glasses? Hmmm because about 5% of new members actually know how dangerous lasers are. Most view them as your cheap dollar store pointer and are safe, when in reality the lasers we use are FAR from that. How many threads have we seen that people get flashed in the eye (always an accident, I dont think anyone is dumb enough to look right into a lasers beam) and do permanent damage, EVEN VETS! If you don't instill safety from the beginning the people don't realize the danger, get comfortable with them and that's when you cause injury.
Stress safety from the beginning and we have a safer hobby, less people breaking the law and in the end LESS regulation on our hobby. THATS why I stress safety glasses and safety to new members. I am not disagreeing with you guys since I rarely use my safety glasses anymore. I know the PROPER ways to handle these without glasses and be able to enjoy the beam. Hand a laser to a new member and say use this and enjoy the beam, 95% promise you they will get a massive headache from using it; #1 sign you are doing damage to your eyes :beer:
I know I did it prior to joining here, read a few threads here and was like DAMN, glad the laser was only 15mW and not a higher powered one that did permanent damage