Sitting on the train the other day I counted 17 people within eye-shot of me. Five of the 17 were wearing sunglasses. I’m not entirely sure of the need for sunglasses on the train. I used to think that one’s sunglasses might be on prescription so they’re needed for reading/seeing. But if the wearer is going to work, chances are they have a pair of normal glasses on them to wear indoors, because technically one is indoors when on the train. We walk through a set of doors, into something that has a roof. Indoors.
I’ve been told I sometimes stare at people. I don’t tend to do it on purpose, it just happens. The majority of the time I’m probably not even taking in what I’m looking at – I might even be looking beyond the person at nothing. Staring is rude, there’s no doubt about that. But at the same time, it’s often interesting. You might get a better understanding of someone if you stare at them when they are unaware of it.
I’ve never worn sunglasses. I have put some on before, but what I mean is I’ve never been a regular sunglasses wearer. I probably don’t have a good reason, though I often see people wearing them and it seems as though they’re pretending to be famous. I definitely don’t want to look like that, so maybe that’s why I don’t wear them. Wearing sunglasses inside is only ok if you’re in a band. That’s just cool. One’s sunglasses are probably more important than the guitar they play when they’re in a band. That’s pretty standard.
So I was on the train with five sunglasses wearers, and they were all staring at other people on the train. They were even staring at each other. It’s like ‘This lot can’t see my eyes, they don’t know I’m getting an eyeful of them’. This one guy is giving me a proper going over, so I challenge him: I stare back. I’ve got no weapon – no Raybans, no Oakleys. Reckon it lasted about four seconds, and he backed down and turned his head straight out the window – the only retreat there is when caught catching someone’s eye on the train. That’s pretty standard, too.
