double placebo

I have two pair of glasses that I wear regularly, though not daily. Funny thing is, I don't need glasses. That's right, I have two frames with clear glass in them.

I started this habit in Korea. I found myself in a world of stereotypes: Korean, ESL teachers and military all have their own idiosyncracies. I, however, was an anomaly; people were constantly trying to assume who I was and what I was up to. Their assesment, in my opinion, ran something like this:

Military: Teacher
Teachers: Source of marijuana (I kid; English teachers NEVER do drugs!)
Koreans: ........uh.......rapper? musician? african?.......wait, you're not a teacher, are you?

So I tried to buy custom sunglasses using my then-shoddy Korean and ended up ordering some glasses with a nice tint. To save face, I just bought them and would wear them on occasion. It was almost immediately that I saw the difference.....people actually believed me when I said I was a student learning Korean. No one asked if I was a rapper! And, for those who wanted to place me in a box, I now required more than just a first-glance assessment to be categorized.

The glasses became my tool for being fairly observed. They became a part of my real-world social networking system as they granted me access to a larger group of people. Ultimately, I lost those spectacles in Singapore, so I went back and bought trendier ones.

I say all this because yesterday, at lunch, my friend Marvin put me on blast as we were paying the bill. "Are those glasses even prescription?" He laughed.

"Uh, no. They're cosmetic."

"Did you see him?" He asked. "He put his glasses on to look at the receipt. Wh-aaa-t a placebo!"

He's right. I totally didn't do that intentionally, but the glasses have become such a part of my life now that I, as a perpetrator, assume the habits of people who are legitimate, like Marvin. I can think of other examples; I also carried my korean phone along with me and used its local games and apps despite the fact that it did not work in the U.S.

Sure, laugh at me now. But have you ever faked a phone call to avoid a conversation? Tried to look busy in the office when the boss was on a rampage? Have you ever put on a happy face to share in someone's joy when you really felt pretty crappy? Are these things all that different?

Anyway, It was interesting to observe the multiple functions served by my fake glasses.