The sunglasses wall

You can tell whether someone is truly smiling by seeing if the smile is coming through their eyes. At least, that is how I weed out the fake smilers. Because I don't like limiting eye contact, I've never been a huge fan of wearing sunglasses – expect when driving and trying to look cool. However, I have recently commenced a sunglasses experiment. That is, wear sunglasses while walking around and see how people react. On a day to day basis the comments I get range from Jenny, a Filipino actor on a popular soap here to the Chinese president. Someone always seems to have something to say about my appearance and for the most part I don't mind. It is often a source of entertainment, but it's a good thing I don't know the local language well enough to understand all of what that is said. Recently, there also seems to be increasing fascination with my hair. On a 6 hour bus journey back to Lusaka, I could feel the man sitting behind me touch my hair every once in a while; for all I know, he could have been touching it the entire time! And, while I was walking out of a bus station, a woman fully ran her finger through my hair! I was so stunned that I had to stop walking. Thank goodness for conditioner or that would have hurt. According to a friend, my hair is "to die for here" – fascinating. Anyway, in short, I get a lot of attention (as does the average foreigner who interacts with local people on a regular basis). I am getting tired of the attention, especially the people who are rude and violate my personal space. I wish I still had the tolerance I had when I first arrived, but I am reaching the point of almost saying "fuck off" to those who grab me, practice their karate chops in my face, and basically anything that classifies as inappropriate touching. I don't want to reach the angry profanity line. Hence, the sunglasses experiment.

The experiment
Purpose: To determine whether local people react differently to me when they can see less of my face.

Hypothesis: If people react to me based on my appearance and what they can see, by wearing sunglasses, I am reducing the amount of my face they can see, and thereby reducing what they can comment on.

Procedure:
1. Put on sunglasses – only wearing them when appropriate (i.e. outdoors, during daylight hours, and when it is sufficiently sunny)
2. Go about the day like normal.
3. Observe reactions, comments, and staring behaviour. Make mental notes.
4. At the end of the day and/or undefined time later, summarize mental notes, and make conclusion.

Observations:
- Usual glances and comments from guards by the office
- Exchanged usual greetings with gardeners and fruit seller by office
- People stared as usual on walk to town
- A few people glanced at me out of the corner of their eye, as if avoid fully looking at me
- I felt a strange anonymity I have never felt here before
- Squinted less in the blaring sun and got less dust in my eyes
- I felt reluctant to take them off when the sun was setting
- Got called Angeri Jory… Angelina Jolie?! Ha!... wishful thinking!

Conclusion:
It is too early to tell whether the hypothesis is correct. However, it is notable how I quickly became attached my sunglasses and almost relished in the feeling of being behind the sunglasses wall. I feel a great deal of conflict because I do not want to block out the interactions with the local environment, but at the same time I feel much more relaxed when I am not being hassled. Sunglasses are also practical; eyes are less itchy when there isn't dust in them – duh! However, I am getting the sense that sunglasses are a psychological crutch. Given how they made me feel, I might be tempted to wear them all the time, so I make a point of taking off my sunglasses when speaking to anyone, even if it is just a greeting in passing. I think as long as I abide by the sunglasses etiquette I will continue wearing them. When more observations are collected, I will try to make a conclusion on whether sunglasses have the power to avert violation of personal space.

NB. I will, of course, take the sunglasses off when flashing a genuine smile at someone. :)

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I am such a geek… it's been forever since I've written an experiment. Sweet! That was fun!