Not removing sunglasses - unreasonable?

[coxesorangepippin]

Met up with a friend yesterday, who introduced me to her sister.

We sat outside, it was sunny.

The sister did not remove her sunglasses the entire time (2 hours).

It bothered me. I couldn't see her eyes.

Aibu?

What? I’ve lived all over the world (Asia, Europe, America, Pacific) and have never experienced people popping their sunglasses up for a hello.

I can’t understand what people are hoping to get from staring into the eyes of someone else for a few seconds. It’s very weird.

This thread is a real eye-opener (sorry, couldn't help it). Crazy that some posters want others to make themselves uncomfortable to let them get a look at their eyes. Even crazier, they think they're the ones with the manners!

Take them off whilst being introduced to each other then put them back on sounds more sensible to me.

Had appointment with optician last week. All ok but she mentioned that she is seeing an increased number of people with issues with eyes obv aggravated by not wearing sunglasses enough. She also said that even in autumn the sun can be bright and we should wear sunnies (and no, she was not trying to sell me something as my prescription was fine). If I was outside, I would keep my sunglasses on too.

If I took my glasses off on being introduced to someone, the only implication would be that I didn't want to see them, which seems incredibly rude.

If the person that you’re looking at can’t see you, does it even count as eye contact ?

Why's that then?

Rubbish. I've been on this planet nearly 70 years and never seen this.

Not sure me squinting up at someone for a picosecond before yanking my glasses back down is going to be establishing any sort of bond or ‘universal truth’.

Amazing how many people on here are so ignorance of basic etiquette. Yes, if you’re wearing sunnies and you’re introduced to someone or you stop to talk to someone, you take them off. It’s polite to be able to see each other clearly. Then put them back on if you have to.

So many posters triggered by the idea of brief eye contact with a stranger! Fact: most people who leave their sunnies on in polite company are just lacking in basic people skills, not blind/albino/light-sensitive/autistic/wearing prescription lenses etc. That's why we don't see many people wearing them on cloudy days, at night, or indoors.

Love the way any sort of bad behaviour gets defended on here by victim-mentality types whining on about how it might all be down to special neeeeeeeds. Back in the real world, most people who wear sunglasses are fine without them, and eye contact is generally considered a pretty key element of human interaction.

Not the same thing at all.

Your whine of "special neeeeeeds" says a hell of a lot about you.

I think a lot of us didn’t know it was bad manners. I have never heard this before this thread, genuinely confused by it.

Why is it bad manners? Happy to be corrected and educated on this as I pride myself on being polite.

Can I ask is it a generational thing? Not that I am particularly young but does this come from an era when sun glasses and proper optical care was less common?

You don't have to have a problem with others, others had a problem with you... you are not the victim.

This is so weird, why are you bothered about somebody wearing sunglasses in the sun, that’s what they are made for!
I wear sunglasses when I’m out when it’s sunny and don’t remove them whilst I’m outside in the sun as they are prescription sunglasses and I can’t see without them.

But why??

And why can nobody answer this question: why does your preference to look at my eyeballs 🤨 trump my preference to keep my sunglasses on?

Actual etiquette and manners would be to let people be as comfortable as they want to be, with whatever that means for their own sartorial choices.

It isn't bad manners @Sallyh87

It's some peoples' preference: that does not mean they get their way by repeatedly going 'but manners' 'but etiquette'.

Unless we still live in some sort of 1940s version of Britain, nobody lives by fucking Debretts rules any more.

People with eye problem (20% of the population has light sensitive conditions and the 75% who have vision issues requiring glasses/contacts/laser and 3% of blind people) are not 'seeing you clearly' without glasses... its really not a hard concept.

The MAJORITY of people actually have vision issues. If you are one that don't you are lucky.

My normal glasses which I use all the time, go dark like sunglasses, maybe theirs did as well.

So many posters triggered by the idea of brief eye contact with a stranger! Fact: most people who leave their sunnies on in polite company are just lacking in basic people skills, not blind/albino/light-sensitive/autistic/wearing prescription lenses etc. That's why we don't see many people wearing them on cloudy days, at night, or indoors.

People aren't saying they're being 'triggered by the idea of brief eye contact' ffs.
Fact - most people who leave their sunnies on do so because they either need them on or are more physically comfortable with them on in bright light. And thats we don't see many people wearing them on cloudy days, at night or indoors. Precisely because it's bright light that's the issue, not eye contact or lack of people skills.
Your logic there was 180°wrong.😂

“Special neeeeeeeeeeeds”

You didn’t seriously just write that… 😬

You don't see people wearing them indoors /cloudy days etc as many people have ones that react to the light so you don't have to worry about eye damage

I wouldn't be able to see them without my glasses though.

Bright sunlight = migraine trigger, either because of the excess light or the squinting. I would have kept my sunglasses on too.