I’ll never forget being 13 years old and sneaking in a show on HBO while I was babysitting. I don’t remember anything about it beyond the fact that it revolved around these guys who worked at a retail store and sat behind a two way mirror in the women’s changing room watching the girls change out of their clothes. I remember believing it to be true and it forever changed the way I undress in a changing room.
Of course I know now that it is only regular mirrors in changing rooms, now they have pin-hole cameras in every dressing room...just kidding, but I still have that feeling of paranoia each time I want to try something on. Basically I still try to undress as little as possible, or simply turn my back to the mirror. You can call me crazy, but just the thought of the possibility that some creep is watching me, skeeves me out.
So how can you tell the difference? Well despite that email that has been circulating since the late 1990’s about the “finger tip” test, it’s really quite easy to visually see the difference. Surprisingly enough, this question was just asked on Yahoo Answers only a week ago, so I am not the only paranoid person out there.
Two way Mirrors are in fact, not mirrors at all. They are glass windows with a film covering, resembling a mirror on one side, but appearing as tinted glass on the other. Just like you see on the TV police dramas. These glass windows cannot be hung on a wall the way a mirror can, but has to be placed in a wall.
The other key thing is that the light on the mirrored end has to be brighter than the light on the viewing end; otherwise you can see shadows on the other side. Simply cup your hands over your eyes as you lean up against the mirror to look through and this blocks light out from your end, if it is indeed a two way mirror, you will be able to see through to the other side.
With all of the technology today with camera’s so minute, a store can hide them to ensure you are not stealing clothing, why would they want to go through the expense of these two way mirrors? This is something I will have to remind myself the next time I go clothes shopping before I become my paranoid self.
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