How to greet someone if you're wearing shades and earphones

Etiquette expert William Hanson reveals how to greet someone in the street if you’re wearing sunglasses and earphones (and whether it’s bad manners to wear shades indoors)

  • William’s advice first appeared in an Instagram post viewed over 14,000 times
  • Here he also reveals if it’s bad form to slide sunglasses onto the head
  • READ MORE: You’ve been eating spaghetti all wrong!

In an enlightening Instagram post, etiquette expert William Hanson has revealed whether it’s impolite to greet someone in the street while wearing sunglasses and listening to music.

The short answer is yes.

He says in the clip, which has been viewed over 14,000 times: ‘If you meet someone in the street and you’re wearing sunglasses and earphones, remove them before you have a conversation.’

MailOnline Travel asked William if exceptions to the ‘shades off’ rule can be made in very bright sunshine.

He said: ‘There will always be exceptions, but it would be better to whip them off for a short second while you greet the other person and put them back on shortly after, than to keep them on.’


In an enlightening Instagram post, etiquette expert William Hanson has revealed whether it’s impolite to greet someone in the street while wearing sunglasses and listening to music. He says the shades should be removed and the music stopped

William believes that it’s ‘crass’ to wear sunglasses indoors

And if it’s blinding light and you really do need to keep them on?

He said: ‘Be honest! Ask, “Would you mind awfully if I popped my sunglasses back on?” No one is going to say no.’

And is it OK to slide the sunglasses on to the top of the head rather than take them off altogether?

William continued: ‘In very casual situations, but ideally you’d remove them totally from your face.’

Should the music be turned off before the greeting? Or does it not matter?

William said: ‘It depends if you can multi-task – but most modern headphones automatically pause the music when the earphones are removed. A rare example of where technology can help good manners!’

We also asked William if it was bad manners to wear sunglasses indoors.

He was unequivocal, stating: ‘It’s very bad manners to wear your sunglasses indoors. It isn’t chic. It’s crass.

‘Eye contact is key for building rapport and trust with our fellow humans and sunglasses prevent that from happening.’

For more from William visit his Instagram profile here. He can be found tweeting here – twitter.com/williamhanson.

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