Invisibility

I'm a little nervous about this invention to achieve invisibility. I'm hoping it's so expensive and so rare that it doesn't filter down to my level, the block I live on.

Probably like you, I like the idea of being able to see people coming. The ability to depend on my senses. It's bad enough, for example, if you have the air conditioner on, or you're listening to music with earbuds, to have someone come up behind you and touch your shoulder. Or for someone to suddenly appear some other way unannounced. The idea that they could be standing in the room with you all along, for as long as they choose, unnoticed, is unnerving.

And yet what kid hasn't fantasized about being invisible? The fantasy of being able to sneak around unnoticed, whether past your teacher or parents, has to be a common one, especially since we saw the Invisible Man movies all those years ago. You figure though, like in the movies, that you essentially have to be walking around naked, because if they put bandages on you or a hat those things are hovering in the air. That would be a drawback, especially if there were some faults in the process, such as if you suddenly become visible.

There's an old serial starring Bela Lugosi where he has an invisibility belt, and in his case it included his clothes, which would be good. But with that movie, "The Phantom Creeps," you could still occasionally see his shadow moving about. When he became invisible he was able to exploit it to the hilt, until everything started pointing to the fact that his character was invisible, then they were on to him.

But fantasy and reality are two different things. The reality that someone could be invisible -- the light rays being diverted or bent around the person or object -- is not a welcome thing.