Sunglasses

I've got a new pair of sunglasses, and they make me feel like a superhero in disguise.

I don't often get to wear sunglasses. I use perscription lenses, and they're strong - I'm not legally blind without them, but I ought to be. Perscription shades are expensive, and I have a frustrating tendency to lose them (by the way, if you see some Oakleys with green lenses in the New Hampshire area and putting them on makes you feel like someone is hammering your head with a mallet, drop me a word). It's also tricky to switch between those and regular glasses, because my eyes constantly need to adjust. A lot of times, they're not worth the trouble.


Last week, I finally decided to bite the bullet and buy a new pair. I picked these sunglasses out while I was buying new regular glasses with my mom. Picking out the new regular frames took me several hours (it's a big decision!), but picking out sunglasses frames took about 15 minutes. I just picked the most stereotypically sunglasses-like sunglasses that were there.

I've been carrying them around for a week now, and I'm starting to realize what I've been missing all this time. There's the benefit of being able to look around on a bright day without squinting, of course, but I look different, too. I don't look any cooler (and we're talking about a pretty low bar, there), but I do look less innocuous. I showed the 1st graders at my school, and one of them actually screamed and jumped back. Not necessarily a great sign, but at least I knew they had an effect.

There's also an odd psychological benefit. I'm able to pass as someone who doesn't where corrective lenses at all - just like an FX reality show. Plus, knowing I look different changes how I behave. All of which lets me feel different from who I usually think I am.