The blind leading the blinded by the light

While walking home the other day, I saw a blind man (so identified by his white cane) crossing the street while talking on a cell phone. As someone who all-too-often uses cellular communication devices while walking, I was amused by the thought that no one could yell at him, "Hang up the phone and watch where you're going!"

In honor of that man, and of Stevie Wonder's ironic choice of words at Michael Jackson's funeral --- "This is a moment that I wished that I didn't live to see come." -- I want to blog about sunglasses.

If you want cute, cheap sunglasses, there are a few ways to go about getting them. You could work on Canal Street, as I do, and have 11 different men offer to sell you a "designer" pair out of their suitcase in the half a block between your office's front door and the subway every day.

Or you could pay $6 for these. Love them!

Rule Number Sun

Having just mentioned sunglasses in my most recent post, I am reminded of one of my hard-and-fast rules of shopping:

Never spend more than $20 on a pair of sunglasses.

I ardently uphold this spending limit, and, having lived in 2 different Sunshine States (in 2 different hemispheres!) in my lifetime, I like to consider myself something of an expert on the subject.

Why the $20 cap, you ask? The answer is simple. Let's consider the reason you are purchasing these sunglasses.

Now, if your reason for a new pair is that you are an environmental researcher who just got back from a 10-year-post in Antarctica studying the effects of global warming on the polar ice caps, and, having not seen the sun in a decade, have had no use for this important accessory until now, please feel free to disregard my rule and purchase whatever pair of sunglasses will make you happy. Welcome back to civilization and sunshine, and thank you for all you do for our Earth.

But if you're just the average shopper in the market for a new pair of sunglasses, your reason is probably one of the following:

1. You lost your old pair.
2. You broke your old pair.
3. Your old pair went out of style.

And let's be realistic -- without a doubt, before long, one (or more) of those three options is going to happen again. It's pretty much a fact of life. So rather than putting yourself in a position to mourn the loss (either literally or stylistically) of an expensive pair of sunglasses, follow my rule and move seamlessly on to sunnier days.