Seeing The Light

I Can See Everything, Thanks To My Ray-Bans

Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON

I learnt a lot in my years as a tennis writer. Having dreamed about Wimbledon as a child, I never could have imagined that I would one day sit at Centre Court, covering the tournament as a fully accredited journalist. My first Wimbledon was in 1981, when John McEnroe finally dethroned Bjorn Borg and my last Wimbledon was in 1987, when Pat Cash thwarted Ivan Lendl in the men's singles final.

Like I said, I learnt a lot. I even learnt about road safety.

How so? Because I learnt how Ray-Bans can actually help you when you're on a dark desert highway (did I just say that?) or on a highway in really bad visibility or in appalling weather conditions.

How on earth did I learn this at Wimbledon? Simply by being observant. Even though the tournament is held in the European summer, characterised by the long evenings, there is often rain and cloud and the light can get rather murky, especially in the late afternoon. The first year I covered Wimbledon, I noticed that the linespeople really had to concentrate on their task even harder in cloudy conditions. But a few years later, I noticed that they all sported Ray-Bans, in bright sunshine and in overcast weather alike.

Curious, I asked why this change had taken place. From memory, I was told that it was official policy of the All-England Club. All linespeople were issued with Ray-Bans and they would wear them at all times. I was told that the quality of the Ray-Ban lenses would actually enhance the clarity of vision in bad light. A crucial white line on the fading grass of the hallowed courts would look clearer through the lenses than with the naked eye.

So the next time I was on a highway in bad weather - returning from Niagara to Toronto, I tried the experiment and immediately I could see the logic. Ever since then, I have always had a pair of Ray-Bans in my car.

So today, as I sat down to write a post for Sky Watch Friday, I uploaded some great sunset photos that I took recently. Then I thought about some of the comments and emails from people who had read my ABC Wednesday post J Is For Journey, in which I mentioned that I had donned my Ray-Bans ("sunnies", as we call them here in Australia) when I drove home from Sydney to Melbourne this week.

And at that point, I decided to scrap the post with pictures of the beautiful colours and the striking hues across the sky, in order to share this road safety hint that I learnt during my career as a tennis writer.

Maybe you have a great road safety tip that you would like to share .... even if you didn't learn it at Wimbledon.