Shopped 'Till I Dropped
Today I had quite an interesting shopping experience. In the interest of expanding my social network here, I asked two psychs I work with to go Christmas shopping with me today since we had the day off. One is a bit younger than me and very quiet, and the other is my age, pretty outgoing, but blind. Let me just say that I have new respect for guides for the visually impaired. I was only gone for half the day and now every muscle in my body hurts - it was like everything was tensed so that I could be ready to grab her if she fell or if someone ran into her. I felt like I was a big football guard for the quarterback so he didn't get sacked.
I forgot how rude people can be, which is something I've not experienced since K was a baby and I was lugging his diaper bag and navigating his stroller through crowded places. People who can see can avoid the aimless wanderers and rude "in a rush" people most of the time, but it's not an option when you can't see them. We got some looks from people who were exasperated at having to wait for us to pass, and the escalator was a challenge. How do you explain to someone when to step? It's something I never thought about. I was so excited when we made it down the escalator without any injuries! Also, phrases like "it's right there" are meaningless - and I found myself saying things like that way too often. In addition, when you're in nice stores, you need to make sure the person is guided through in such a way as to not knock expensive and shiny things over, which I usually don't worry about.
What amazed me the most is how much trust you'd have to have in your guide in order for it to work. Your guide is your set of eyes and if they forget to tell you something because they don't think about it, bad things can happen. At the end of our shopping day, I am glad I had the experience because it makes me thankful I have my eyesight (even though it's not 100%), made me more aware of the reactions towards people with disabilities, and had me thankful that I am getting to know two more great people who I can add to my social network.
I forgot how rude people can be, which is something I've not experienced since K was a baby and I was lugging his diaper bag and navigating his stroller through crowded places. People who can see can avoid the aimless wanderers and rude "in a rush" people most of the time, but it's not an option when you can't see them. We got some looks from people who were exasperated at having to wait for us to pass, and the escalator was a challenge. How do you explain to someone when to step? It's something I never thought about. I was so excited when we made it down the escalator without any injuries! Also, phrases like "it's right there" are meaningless - and I found myself saying things like that way too often. In addition, when you're in nice stores, you need to make sure the person is guided through in such a way as to not knock expensive and shiny things over, which I usually don't worry about.
What amazed me the most is how much trust you'd have to have in your guide in order for it to work. Your guide is your set of eyes and if they forget to tell you something because they don't think about it, bad things can happen. At the end of our shopping day, I am glad I had the experience because it makes me thankful I have my eyesight (even though it's not 100%), made me more aware of the reactions towards people with disabilities, and had me thankful that I am getting to know two more great people who I can add to my social network.
posted by Notta Wallflower at 5:31 PM
4 Comments:
It gives you a whole new respect for guide dogs, doesn't it?
Last summer I waited on a lady with a guide dog(female yellow lab). The dog curled up under the table and was less in the way than most women's purses. I actually had a man demand that I remove the dog! I had to explain to this idiot that by law, that dog can go anywhere while "in harness".
We lived in the Twin Cities when our daughter was a baby. She became terrified of riding in her stroller. People would walk right into the stroller or rudely try to shove it out of their way. It was so refreshing to move back to northern MN, where people actually open doors for strollers AND talk to the baby while they're doing it. The "crowd mentality" in big cities can be scary.
TSHS - Well, I was thinking more of guide people, but yes, guide dogs have to be pretty smart and have to do a lot of things for people with disabilities. I totally understand what you're saying about big city versus small town mentalities. Small towns are very refreshing, for the most part. :-)
Heh. My wife recently bought her buddy a chiropractor visit and blindfolded her to take her to her "present," and promptly walked her into a metal pole. Nice going Mrs. Z. Glad she's not a guide to the visually impaired.
ZS - Ouch! I think the most embarrassing thing that happened on our shopping trip was when I guided my friends hand to a bar to hold onto and then people moved close to the bar and I forgot to tell her. So she accidentally copped a feel. Woops!
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