its a SHADEy thing

      i go to the cemetery, it is afternoon and the sun isn’t so...sunny outside our mausoleum. i'm visiting my lolo, along with my lola, titas, titos and cousins on my mothers side of the family. i notice my cousin. she's wearing dark shades...inside - where its quite dark?
and its not the first time.

      i see a lot of people walking around wearing shades indoors. to ask my opinion, it looks really pathetic, unless well you're blind singing along with the gang or you're randy santiago. but that's not usually the case. these people wear their shades for another reason: to look cool.

      but sunglasses were invented for a more "noble" purpose.
(i got this history part from some pages on the internet, visit the sites to learn more about your favorite accessory.
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bleyeglass.htm
http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Fall04/Lederman/history.htm)
      they go way back to 12th century china and were used by court judges to "shade" the expressions that could be seen in their eyes. (how objective - get it?)now in the western world.
      in 1752 eyeglass designer James Ayscough thought of using blue or green tinted glass instead of white glass in spectacles to create corrective glass lenses.
but it was inventor and entrepreneur Sam Foster who popularized them during the 1930's selling his Foster Grants (sunglasses) at Atlantic city in 1929.
      have you heard of the Polaroid company? well this guy Edwin H. Land was its founder and in 1937 he introduced lens polarization, used patented Polaroid filters in Polaroid sunglasses, glare-free sunglasses. For our shades, it meant reduced light glare.
      to all of you who thought Ray Ban is just a brand of shades they used for GMA's MIB pictorial, you’re wrong. Ray Ban designed anti-glare aviator style sunglasses which have become the standard worn by the world's greatest pilots, military people, and i guess we could say us too.

      now sunglasses should be important because they protect your eyes form the sun's UV-A and B light which can cause permanent retina problems and Cataracts (so make sure you’ve got good shades that actually do). They give protection form intense light an glare.
      among its other uses are just as well as the 12 century Chinese judges, especially if you’re a good poker player - in our case there’s tong-its. if you’ve got in a fight and obtained an obvious black eye there’s your protection from stares. if you’re a TV celebrity in this country chances are you wear them around too - ah! the paparazzi and the scary fans. they’re a fashion statement - as ive been mentioning - unless of course unlike some really stupid people who wear them on backward (where's the purpose, pal?). all you sporting people, yes, shades are used in spots. if you’re out all day in the sun playing golf or in the tennis court at 10-12 etc you better pick up a pair (swimming pool not included). they aid in driving as well, no wonder Erap banned stainless jeeps.

      so, shades are not all that bad. kudos to the inventors, developers and "popularizers" of this accessory. they’re a real help in most things even fashion - lots of people get money out of this - and they protect our precious eyes. however, i still have doubts about wearing them indoors.