Why Do People Wear Sunglasses

As I was walking out of work yesterday and put on my sunglasses, I thought to myself  that I wasn’t actually using them to protect my eyes from the sun. I had a long day, I was tired, and I didn’t feel like talking to anyone – so I put them on. I actually put them on while I was still inside and then kept them on while navigating my way through the parking garage to my car. Sunglasses are a trendy disguise that say “don’t talk to me right now” and “I am really shady and cool.” No one ONLY wears sunglasses to protect their eyes from the sun. I mean, let’s be serious – I had a $350 pair of Chanel sunglasses. Sure they were good quality and helped block the sun from my eyes a little – but you cannot stare into the sun for an infinite amount of time without hurting your eyes with sunglasses on! I know, I’ve tried. So why in the world do we wear sunglasses? Well, there are many reasons why… And here are 10:

People don’t recognize you when you wear them. Yeah, this may not be true – but at least when you put them on, it feels like you just turned into this super mysterious person that isn’t really YOU. For instance, you’re shopping at the grocery store and you see this kid you went to high school with in the same aisle as you. If you have your sunglasses on, you can avoid the awkwardness of having to say hello and breeze right by them because, duh, they don’t know who you are – and you obviously didn’t see them!

When you are driving, people won’t actually be able to see who you are, making it appropriate to blast obnoxious rap music, roll the windows down, and sing. For some reason, when your eyes are visible to others (and you are alone in the car) it is awkward to blast music and roll your windows down because A) you can make accidental eye contact with someone and B) people might be staring at you – and might even know who you are!