now you see me; now you don't

some say life is in the details. i've taken note of a detail lately that is crucial to the culture of new york city: sunglasses. people in this city are serious about their sunglasses. whether they are $300 gucci frames from madison avenue or a $5 pair of canal street aviators (guess which one i am), we mean business. the great thing is you can get away with whatever you want. so if i feel like sporting a pair of jackie o style glasses, there is no judgement. people even wear their sunglasses inside - in restaurants, in stores, on the subway. on any given night you could probably even find someone sleeping in them.

carla, my favorite receptionist at work, has a pair of massive sunglasses, the kind that make you look like a new insect species. i was giving her a hard time about them the other day and i asked, "you're one of those people who wears their glasses on the train, aren't you?". she was quick to claim it - that yes, she does wear her sunglasses on the train. she told me that the reason she does is so that people can't get to her soul. she cited p.diddy's reasoning for always wearing shades: "the eyes are the window to the soul". carla said there's a lot of bad souls out there, and she doesn't want to let them in. we had a good laugh, but it kind of made sense.

today i went to times square to buy some concert tickets, and i decided to try out wearing my shades on the subway to keep my soul intact. it almost made me feel like i was hiding from everyone. i know they could still see me, but it changed my perspective on the situation. it was somewhat freeing, but i kept laughing at myself everytime i caught a glimpse of myself in the window. i wonder if diddy laughs at himself. probably not. at any rate, now i understand what carla meant, and from now on you might find me around town shielding my soul.