Category: Getting to Know You
hi all, i was just thinking about what kind of questions us blind or visually impaired indeviduals have gotten by a sited person?
For example, i got one today while i was out at the pool. one of my sister's friends asked me why i don't take my cane with me into the pool. and i just smiled and said, its just something i don't need in the pool while i'm swimming.
I got asked by a sighted person in Austin if I drove a car. I was like um no, I'm visually imapired and can't see well enough to drive and I had my cane with me to.
another time I was asked if I knew how to use a telephonew, television etc... I was like yes I do. There are some wierded out people out there.
Hmmm. Good question. There are several, and this might not be the last post for me to this topic. The one that comes to mind actually could have been responded to on two different levels of thought. A child once asked me "How do you know where your house is?" I was way younger and way more obnoxious, and I almost answered "Well, if they haven't moved it since I left, its where it was this morning." My brain kicked in fortunately, and I realized that what the child was really saying was "If you can't see, what clues do you use to know where your house is?" I really had to think about that one, because like many of you, there are just so many little things that I take for granted that I do that I just don't sto to think about.
Lou
Well, my cousins used to ask me or my mum "are your eyes stuck or broken?" or "are her eyes stuck or broken?"when they knew I couldn't see but sort of couldn't understand why I couldn't see. You could say though, my eyes are, well and truly broken, but not stuck. This might not be my last post to this topic either.
I've got a younger half brother. he's 7 now, but when he was about 3 or 4, he asked me if my eyes could be fixed. he thought they could be mended in a day. i've also had some weirdos ask me if i could walk in a straight line, how i watched telly, how i knew where things were and could i use things like radios or telephones.
An old woman once asked me if i have help when i study in England. When i asked what kind of help do you mean she said things like help in the shower or getting dressed. It was one of the most stubit questions i heard.
I've been asked everything from how do you cook and how do you do your laundry, to just plain moronic questions like can you have sex, and how do you tune your guitar when you can't see. I really wonder about the intelligence of the general population sometimes! haha. Also, I hate when people ask me if I count steps so I'm sure of where I am. god that is annoying...
They asked me the steps question too.
Yeah, people used to ask me about steps.
This isn't really a question, but it kinda is related: I met someone in the street that my mum works with, so she had heard a lil about me. After talking for some time, we went different ways, i said by and she said see you later, (can you guess where this is going?) a couple've days later, my mum comes back from work, and told me that the same woman had come close to tears because she said see you later to me, with out thinking. I just started laughing.
BEN.
I was in a store once and a clerk saw my cane and asked where my guide dog was, LOL! I responded seriously, saying I preferred to use a cane, but next time someone asks me that, I'm going to do this big dramatic gasp and go, "Oh nonono! You mean he's gone! Rover? Rover! Come back here boy! Oh no!" Muahaha! I get asked if I read braille because people automatically associate my cane with total blindness. I've been asked if glasses or contact lenses would correct my vision, which neither will since it's Optic Nerve Hypoplasia and not some milder condition. I've been asked if i can see colors. Oh yeah, and people always ask me can I make it up the stairs, up the rocky driveway, down that hallway, etc. Oh, and one more. People wonder if I can use the mouse and see the screen without a magnifier, then am I really blind? Well, yes, I have it set on the extra large mouse pointer, 800x600 resolution, and extra large fonts while you who aren't blind can sit there and follow a teeny dot on a 1024x768 resolution screen without squinting at what everything is!
wow! some of these are really... well? what i asked for i guess... interesting.yes, i get the whole thing when i say i am going to watch tv, or see ya later, and thy're like,
What I don't like is when people ask me for directions when they know I am blind. Today I was looking at two cars outside because I can see colours one was light blue and the other was a dark blue, my mum is like what does it matter what colour it is but it interests me to see different colours. But my mum cant understand why a blind person should be interested in colours. At college some of the lecturers think there is no point in me doing things like one time we were going to the nursery to sell things and the lecturer said there was no point in me going. I was like why? I can follow the other students. I had my guide dog with me.
people just don't understand at all. and its very annoying.
I forget if it was here on the zone or some other blindness community but there was a discussion of stupid things sighted people ask and these aren't my stories, but these are funny ones I always share with people. One person who posted got asked, "I know you can read braille, but can you speak braille?" Oh yeah, sure, dot dot dot space dot dot LOL! Another poster shared how she called the phone company wondering if they had braille caller I.D. machines instead of just the talking caller I.D. machines and the operator said "I'm sorry, we don't have any in that color!"
A seven-yearold asked me how I used the computer. I explained that the computer tells me what's on the screen. He thought about it for a minute and said: "Well, that's great. You'll never be lonely."
when my god daughter was about two she said to me "Uncle Lou, why don't you open your eyes?" I told her "Samantha, they're broken." She thought about that and said "Is your bwain bwoke too?" We all laughed about that. Problem is all the adults knew the answer, and it hurt my feelings. (LOL)
Hi! I have been asked the steps question loads of times and I once had a girl come up to me (note this girl was in college) and ask me in all sincerity, does being blind mean that you don't get your period? I was...speechless...
Lol! I've been asked about the steps thing, which doesn't bother me as much as the time when we had this big thing at my high school. Someone in charge, I don't remember exactly who it was, got up and gave this speech. They started with "Before the school opened, John came here with his vision teacher, and they walked the halls... counting steps to places..."I was like Noooo!!! Wrong!!! Except not loudly.
Me and some people at school were having a conversation about sex and one was like,
"Yeah, how can you have sex if you can't see? How do you know where to put..."
And there was the time someone asked me if I could get stuff out of the fridge by myself, or if I wanted a glass of water, could I get it on my own.
They're really retarded questions, but I try to be nice... sometimes.
yeah, it can be tough. I was asked the sex question too, that specific question and I thought girl, if you only knew...ha. It bugs me that people don't think about these questions with some common freaking sense before they ask them. it can be quite annoying. Once and a while you'll get an intelligent question but more often than not, it's a moronic inquiry.
I've gotten the steps thing too, where some people ask if I count steps to get around. Or (actually this isn't a question, but this is weird and the most annoying thing), some people get nervous when I'm coming up to something and walking at a normal speed, when I'm using my cane. For instance, they will say "watch out" before I even get to a stair or wall, or another was yesterday when I hit one of those portable basketball things with my cane (because my cousins left it out) and I simply went around it and kept walking. My grandma had been watching me go home from her house and I think she saw that, but she called my mom to tell her I got hurt. My dad also has a habit of telling me when to turn and walk straight when we're walking somewhere with my cane. I don't know, I guess those people feel like they're helping when they get concerned and/or do things like that, but oh well. That sex thing is the weirdest thing I've heard of, although I've never had that one before. I have also had that one where people assume my sister or mom is my helper or caretaker.
ok, here are mine:
my freshman year of college , my friend jenn's boyfriend told me he had something serious he wanted to ask me so i sat down and said "ok, shoot." and he said, seriously, "how do you clean up after going to the bathroom? i mean, do you just touch around and see if you got everything?" i just sat there and said "well, either you can swivel your head completely around to check yourself or you do it the same way i do." He didn't get that.
My eyes are a milky blue color because of the conditions i have and when my little sister was around five, we were at the park and a little boy asked her "what's wrong with your sister's eyes?" she just stood there in a matter-of-fact sort of way and said "her eyes are broken cause God forgot to color them all the way."
and my final one...i kid you not actually happened in the mall. a woman walked up to me and was casually asking about my disability and she'd asked if i read sign...i said no and then she said "ok, so you read braille...that means you can read lips too right?" i reached up to her mouth, put my hand on it and said "ok, go."
Oh, sometimes I wish I could remember all the odd questions. The step thing is pretty common. Oh, haven't any of you been asked about your dreams, either the one about if you see in your dreams or not, or the one about whether you dream in color. I remember I was with a friend in a drugstore looking at CD storage wallets and some dude walks up to us and starts asking my friend questions. I told him I spoke English, so he proceeded to ask me whether I graduated school. When I replied that I did, he told me "good" and went on his way. I was so much wanting his approval for answering the question, you know that, don'tcha? Hahahaha! Oh, one more. I was waiting for a cab and some dude asked me what I thought of the music of Stevie Wonder. I believe I told him I preferred Ray Charles, but I really should have not only mentioned a musician who wasn't blind, but perhaps somebody who was not so well-known or popular, like Frank Zappa or Brian Eno or something like that.
hmm yes. I got asked by my cousin the same thing about about how would a blind person have sex.
Another woman also asked me if blind people were able to get pregnannt.
Is it me or do people always assume someone to be deaf and blind and start talking really lowd and slow... It's worse when it's your math teacher.
The last one happened last year at my school.
I was sitting in the hall way reading like off in a quiet hallway until I could go catch a bus and go to work. I'm holding my cane in my hand and this girl looks directly at me, and asked if i needed help. I was in an unfamiliar place so asked her to direct me to a cirtain hall way, and she asked me which parkinglot i had my car in...
Oh my god! Where is your car. I like that one! hahahah! wow! I love doing things like using my cane to get somewhere but then randomly picking up a magazine or newspaper, like in the supermarket, and pretending to read. In a way, it's better when I can be sure it's upside down. I like confusing the sighted sometimes. It's payback for their stupidity... I've been asked the dream question before too. And regarding a previous post, stevie wonder and ray charles are cool, but, I'd rather listen to andrea bochelli. But, Frank Zappa beats them all!
Oh, the loud and slow talking people, I have a classic story about that one! I'm getting ready to cross a really busy street in town, one of those wide ones where they have the button you push for the walk or don't walk thingy. Well I had pushed it and was looking through my monocular at the bright light across from me when I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn to see this wrinkled little old lady leaning on one of those support canes for physically disabled people and she gets all in the side of my face and screams "CAAAAAN IIIII HEEEEELP YOOOOOU?!?!?!?!?!" I said yes, you just turned me into Hellen Keller, now there's my light, thanks for your help! and crossed the street on my own.
yep, people use to ask me if my braillest was my mom. Oy, and my ex boyfriend and i were talking over lunch and he said,
"One of my friends asked me if you could feed yourself or if I had to feed you" I really didn't know what to say to that one. I wish his friend would have asked me though. heh, that would have been an amusing scene
One time I was waiting at a bus stop when a woman came to me asking if I was really blind. In german, we have two personal pronouns for addressing people, one for people we don't know too well and another one for friends or children. Of course she was kind of impolite and used the latter one. I answered her that yes, I was blind, and she started telling me that I really wasn't blind, because I could see with my heart. Well, at first I didn't know what to say to her and she kept trying to convince me that I really wasn't blind. Then the bus came and I asked her to tell me of what line it was, because I couldn't see the sign too well with my heart. She stopped talking about my heart and semed a bit confused. I think this really was the weirdest sighted person asking stupid questions I ever met.
goodness, and i thought i ran into some strange sities. wow!
well i've been asked a few stupid questions myself i'm not blind but my husband is (yogi) i had a girl at work come up to me and ask me do you mind if i ask you a question i said sure she goes how does he have sex and do you have to help him with it i said no he does it very well. and i had a guy at work named will he was 25 or 26 ask me if my husbands sperm was blind also now i've been working in hospitals a while and never seen a sperm with eyes. and the stupid question i asked was honey did we pass wal-mart yet when we where going to the store but i have a good reason i forget that my husband cant see.
lol. I was in a club one night, and this guy walked up to me and asked what a hot girl like me was doing carrying around a golf club. lol. I told him it was to club off guys like him. heheheheh After he found out I was blind, he was apologizing all night. hehehehe. I was getting my nails done one day and the lady doing them had one hundred questions. stupid ones right. Like, How do you take a shower if you live alone'. I"m like your better than I if you wash your hair with your eyes wide open. Lol most people close there eyes anyway. Smiles at stupidity. She also came at me with the how do you have sex. lol. I just then sstarted ignoring her questions. An hour of all that was enough for me. hehehehehe.
lol shea...i would have asked for a free manicure after dealing with that for an hour!
anyway, i remembered this one from the old, weird lady who lives down the block from me. she asked me if abbie (my Seeing Eye dog) told me when my food was done cooking and how she lets me know if my clothes doesn't match.
I couldn't think of something nice to say so i just kept my mouth shut.
Wow, some great ones! Here's some I have.
Some one once asked me, "Do you need help wiping your butt?"
Do you get constipated alot?
Wow, crazy sighted people! How stupid can you get!
I wonder what would happen if one of us walked up to a random sighted person and asked them such questions, especially about their sex lives or bathroom habits? Hahahaha! One thing that confuses me is the actual nature of the myth about blind people and sex. Is it that people think we have a hard time performing the physical act because we can't see where to put what part, or is it believed we have little desire for or interest in sex. I think next time somebody asks you such personal questions, you should perhaps point out that they'd never ask another sighted stranger such things when it seems perfectly OK to ask a blind person intimate questions just out of curiosity. Typical inconsistent human behavior. *sigh*
i've gotten the same thing while i was getting my nailes done too. hmmm, and i hate it when i'm out with my sister, or someone in my family, and we're out at the mall or something, and these people just stare at me like the've never seen a blind person before. my cousin litterally grabbed my cain out of my hand and ran up to this guy who was supposedly staring at me really wierdly and asked him "do u need something sur?" i was a little embarrassed, but i knew they were just trying to help.
OK. Many of you have read my posts before, but now your gonna see how sick my sense of humor is. One fantasy that I can openly talk about concerns my blindness. For this to happen, tow conditions must be met. First, I'd want to be beamed into a shopping mall. Second, I'd haev to be guaranteed to never ever see any of the people in that mall again. When enough people are staring at me, I'd start slobbering, kicking my feet, making odd noises, in short, living down to their lowest expectations of what a blind person can/should/must be. Oh, the third condition is to just as quickly be beamed out of the shopping mall. I really wonder what people expect/think?
Well, you'd want my fantasy then. In such situations, I'd love to be able to tune into people's thoughts kind of like shortwave radio, and be able to focus in on one particular person, assuming the thoughts would be rendered into English words and sentences. Then I will know exactly what goes through people's heads.
I can tell you what it is. Regarding the sex thing. People who don't have a disability often find someone with a disability not appealing in a sexual way. Like the disability makes the person unattractive. And, again, a lot of people don't think logically. sex is first and foremost a tactile act. many girls have told me i was much better at it then their sighted boyfriends had been. I'm not surprised at all although they even asked me why that was! One reason I gave, besides the fact that I am amazing, is that I concentrate on touch more, especially in that sort of situation. But all of that aside, I just wish people would actually think about these stupid questions before they embarrass us and waste our time with them! But, they do make for interesting war stories to swap. haha!
I think you have a point. OK, crackpot theory time. My guess is that peple who ask us these outrageous questions lump us in with people with other disabilities, such as deafness, developmental disabilities, and having various non-working limbs and things. We're so faceless and anonymous that each of us is just all disabilities rolled into one, whether it's true or not, according to the non-thinking and illogic of these folks. LOL!
Just remember this, at least people are taking time to ask the questions, and learn, no matter how screwed up it is and in so doing may not continuing to stick with there preconseptions.
Yep, a good point there. At least people have the balls to ask. Some would just haul off and do something and not give one of us the chance to try to give them a little education.
I got one
I was walking down a drive way when a lady comes up to me and asks is that a mettal detector I sead no and started to back up far away.
don't know if someone already said this, but a guy once even asked me if I touch you do I become blind too? I just answered did you touch an idiot before asking a question like this? I had many other strange question but I think this one was the best...
lol. The last one was the funniest. Nobody asked me this before but the answer back was good as well.
I hate when pp in ask if you want to use the elevetor. I hate this because I get sick in them. I like the stares.
I have been asked the steps questian, but what really got me was when I got some thing in the mail asking me if i was going ot join the Army and trying to recrute me. I could just see me with a gun! lol I have also been asked when at a schol dance if I wanted to keep my cane with me while dancing. As if I were going to dance with my cane
omg omg omg. lol. you just wait till the next dance. I'm bringing my cane!
Someone once asked me how I found my mouth while eating. I should have asked if they could really see their own mouth. Lame question. And someone else asked me how I brush my teeth, along the same lines. It's funny how lots of the questions we blind people field deal with things sighted people do without looking themselves (wiping butts, washing hair, putting clothes on, etc.)
I got "how do you shave?"
Jonathan
yeah, I've been asked that one as well.
How do you make the difference between the cookie jar and chips bag?
Message to Guitargod... sorry to disappoint you boy but there are also blind guies who just can't make a lady cum decently!!! lolll I had one of those...but as for myself... nobody complained so I guess I'm good... and have the hotest voice in the world!!
how do you know where your house is, how do you know when its night time and when its day time, how can you reckonize where to go or which bus to take, ETC ETC, and,... some very personal question that only women will ask back to women,... lol
wow some good ones, i've been asked quite a few of these, like how do you clean, cook, shower, shave, know where i'm going and i have been asked what kind of golf club i have,"which i can kind of understand seeing the grip is from a golf club", and my cane has been called a fishing pole, ski post, tent post, and i've been asked why do you have a pair of num chucks, and o ya that's some kind of pool q, lol
Lol, I was talking to a sited friend one night and he told me to ask a blind guy how he pissed without missing. Well, Zack was my bf at the time so i just called him up and said "Hey honey listen i am gonna threeway a friend he wants to know how you piss." Lol the shit people ask.
Lol...this was very entertaining to read. I've been asked the question of how I know when it's daytime and when it's night, if I count steps to know where I am, if I dream in color (which I found especially stupid, as I've never seen colors), and if I don't see anything, if it's just blackness that I see.
At least they're asking, I guess.
Reading the post about the army reminded me of one of my favorite mailings. I get these adds for car insurance. There are so many great lines in them, that its hard to pick my favorite. "Because of your accident-free driving record ou have been selected for our lowest rates..." "We are looking for drivers like you with outstanding driving records..." I'd love to walk into the office with that mailing, and be able to see. I'd love to see the looks of the insurance agents when I start complaining that I get these mailings all the time and nobody stands behind them.
Lou
well, a month or so back on mirc, some guy in pakistan, after tellig him i was blind asked, are you sure you're blind? I said, well, the doctor confirmed it soon after i was born, let me se if i still am, yep, sure am, can't see a thing. Unfortunately, i'm one of those people who don't think of the reall good comebacks til it's too late. I was thinking about it today, and if i'd thought of it then, i could've said, are you sure you're sighted?
wonderwoman
*laughs* Yeah, I'm usually the same way on the comeback things. That would've been a good one. *smile* And yeah, I had gotten a guy from India when chatting on MSN a long time ago that straight out called me a liar when I said I was blind. I was just shocked because I'd never gotten anything like that, and (not knowing what to say), I said "Why would I lie?" and explained to him that I wasn't lying and didn't have any reason to. He was nicer to me after that. But I can't think of what smart thing I could've said to that, but that would've made it a better memory of that situation.
haha. On fictionpress, this writing site, it's in my profile that I'm blind. This girl aimed me, and we started chatting and she goes,
so it's in your profile that you're blind.
Yep, I'm blind.
You're not joking then? You're really blind?
Yep
lol.
well, my guide dog has been called a ddoctor dog or things like that. but one day I was walking on the street and there was a guy with a little girl about 6 or 7, and I heard her saying what is that thing that dog has? and the guy said shut up, don't say anything to them, they have a gun! hell I couldn't stop laughing that time... and yesterday a guy told me one day he was on the bus of the sport group of the blind, they were going to another city to play a baseball match, and on the bus was written sport group of the blind of milan, well they stopped when the traffic light was red, and a guy in another car came next to them and said hey guys, I will tell you when it gets green...
lmfao!
Wow! that's fantastic! haha!
I don't think any question people might ask about blindness is weird. Some questions are just a bit different.
Perhaps the weirdest question that I have ever gotten due to my blindness was when I was in a church service and this man walked over to me and asked, ever so politely, "Ma'am, now I know that you know God can do anything, and I know that you believe in God, and believe in faith. And you also know that Jesus is able to heal, save and deliver, and that the Bible instructs us to do as Jesus did. So ma'am, would you allow your faith to take action and let me spit in your eyes, like Jesus did?"
Oh god, talk about being floored. You know, I've been asked how blind people have sex, or cook, or a great number of things, but there really isn't any way you can prepare yourself for someone politely asking if they can just spit in your eyes. Of course, I said no! *grin*
Meka
some of these questions were great! especially how does a blind person piss? that's great! but i'm gonna be boring and put and ask a different question. do we mind it when the public ask us stuff? i know it gets very very anoying. i am in my final year studying french spanish and italian and constantly get asked stupid stuff like "how do you learn a language if you can't read or write"? or "can you tell what i look like by my voice"? but they are just different. people really don't know how we do things. although it is so anoying to us, isn't it better when they ask something that we would think is stupid, then we tell them, then they learn? for example, a cab driver once asked me "how do you cope with my worst fear?" and i explained that for me, being blind is not a bad thing and how i went travelling alone to south america and it really got him thinking. i have also managed to educated some religious people who have told me i should be healed! when you teach someone something, it is like an achievement!
well here are my contributions.
I did get asked a question similar to what was already posted. I was at the fare once, and a carnival lady asked me if when I took a shit and wiped my ass, how did I know I was clean?
Another one was when my now ex wife and I were visiting my sister in law. My little neice asked me, "Uncle Cam, if you're eyes are broken, can me and mommy go down to wall mart and buy you some new ones? She was only 4, and I just burst out laughing. I couldn't help it, but it was seriously heart warming!
If I remember any more of them, i'll be sure to let you know.
Oh and as for the question about how did I know if I was clean. I fired back with, "well people like you spend too much time in porta potties, so your asshole probably ain't as clean as mine, and I'm blind! She was gobsmacked!
Ok, later for now all.
Well it's not often a blind person asks another blind person a stupid question, but I asked the very first girl I ever dated back when I was 14, how did she know when she was starting her period if she couldn't see it on her underwear or anything?
Of course it made sence that she could tell by smelling it when she took a leak, but I couldn't ask my mother because she's not blind, and the girl I was dating was the first blind person I had really gotten intimate with. Not while she was on her period, of course. lol
lol fantastic Cam.
sometime, people thought blind equal to deff too. lots of thing they wish to know from a blind person but they won't ask from them, instead, they wil turn to the sighted friend beside the blindy, and ask question like, "what she want to eat? what she will like to have? is she blind? can she see? how she take care of herself?" ETC ETC, where i seriously have a big laugh inside from my heart.
Oh yeah. And for the icing on the cake.
At a job interview I went to for of all things, and insurance company! The first question the woman asked me, even though I had walked in there with my dog and everything was, ... ... ...wait for it... ... ...Do you have a drivers licence?
Now that, at a job interview, was classic! And that was about 6 months ago.
This shit is just too stupid for me to make up!
lol Cam.
The other day I got,
"How do you see to get to your bed?"
"Um... I don't"
Ahh, such a witty reply from me. And it only bothers me if people ask me stupid questions. Granted I think most questions are stupid, and I try to remember that they don't know but God.
and Cam, take me driving sometime. lol
I don't mind answering questions, I really don't. It gives me a great way to get to know people, and having a guide dog can often break the ice. I'm always polite when answering, at least for the most part. I think!
There are always the questions of other senses taking the place of having no sight, and if I find that they are stronger. I honestly don't know how to answer that question, save with an "I don't think so", and that you learn how to use what you have. Honestly, i think the most frustrating part for me is going to a medical facility. I hate going to the doctor's office just because I know that someone is going to ask a question, and frankly, when you are sick or scared to death about a procedure, being the public educator of the blind world is the last thing you really want to be doing.
Once, a doctor didn't want to prescribe medication to me because I didn't have a caregiver. He wanted to know how I cooked, how I cleaned, etc. I'm all for educating the public, but not when I'm running a 102 temperature and have bronchitis that is on the verge of pneumonia. I finally told him to prescribe the medicine to me because I wanted to get going, and I'd handle things myself and wouldn't overdose, etc. Something I'd been telling him all along, but this time I was on the verge of screaming at him. I remember this one nurse running me in to something that stuck out of the wall and she said 'oh, guess you'll watch where you are going next time, won't you?' and then gave a giggle. I really wanted to deck her a good one. another nurse had trouble finding my vein and seemed to think that digging the needle in harder and fishing around for it that way would be a great plan. While she was doing that, she would ask "so, you really don't care about needles since you can't see them anyway, right?".
Once, I went to a clinic to take a pregnancy test. The nurse asked how I got myself in to such a position in the first place if I am blind. Trying to be lighthearted and not seem pissy, I told her I was able to actually get in to quite a few positions. A few days later, I came home and my roommate at the time said "oh, your clinic called and said that you weren't pregnant and that she wanted to make sure to tell your care giver." Wow, I was so livid. I can tell you that I raised so much cane over that, talking to supervisors on up about breaking confidentiality.
Moving away from the medical field in to the psychological spectrum, I was in counseling about four years ago because I was really struggling with depression and just needed some guidance. I was the one that kept having to shift his focus, since he kept talking about how brave I was that I got up every morning, and that I shouldn't be depressed when I am blind and can cook, and clean, and everything. I just wanted him to listen to me...my depression had nothing to do with being blind! As I said before, I don't mind answering questions but there are some situations where I have wanted to shake some people.
Meka
This is always a topic that gives us a good laugh. If we didn't laugh we would probably cry!
When I first moved into my own flat I rang British Telecom to ask them to send my phone bills to me in Braille. Well the young man on the other end said, yes madam certainly, where abouts in Braille do you live?
I was also contacted recently by another phone company trying to convince me they could give me a better deal. When I told the lady I was blind and would need Braille or internet access to my bills, she launched into a story about her friend who had to have a cornea transplant. She then paused and said, so what happened to you? Did you forget to go for your opporation?
Life is a funny old thing!
these are really great! i was asked in an english class at school "how do you know when your awake" it was in front of everyone and i wanted to slap his face. i said something smart instead which is what i tend to do.
this isn't really a question but...i was at a friends party and got talking to this girl. she was nice enough and after a bit she went to get a drink. when she got back she was all flustered and upset. when i asked what was wrong she said someone had mentioned i was blind and was it true? i said yeah and her response was "oh my god, i can't believe i've been sitting here all this time talking and laughing with you like a normal person" i mean, what the fuck?
i was furious and so was her boyfriend who i know.
i don't have a guide dog but a mate of mine had one and someone asked her how the dog told her which bus to get on. did it bark 3 times for the number 3 bus i wonder? she never said. i've been asked about sex too. that bugs me.
oh, I got that...
"I've been doing this and that, and talking to you like this all this time? and you're blind"
that really, really, bugs me.
That's a strange reaction. So if you're not supposed to be talking and laughing with a blind person, how the hell are you supposed to talk to them anyhow? Just mumble something vaguely complimentary and encouraging, ask about the dog if he/she's there, and then walk away? Ugh, that's no fun!
god! some of these are unbelievable! i agree that sometimes you really do need patience to handle the public. the worst thing for me is, when i'm walking perfectly fine with my cane, and instead of asking me if i need help, people have actually grabbed and pulled me in a completely different direction that i needed to go in and then think they are being helpful!
I've had people grab me without asking me for help too. I've also had people ask me if I sleep with my eyes open (stupid) and how do I eat. The most anoying thing was a few months ago when I was coming home from school. Since Itook a cab from school, I had different drivers everyday. Anyway, there was one lady who was a very nice person, but didn't know much about blindness. She said something about the sun looking nice, when all of a sudden she started to be all dramatic. When I asked what was the matter she appologized for saying the word "look."
I love it when sighted people do that. My sister had a friend years ago who freaked out and was nearly in tears whenever she said "look" or "see" or "watch" around me. I tried to tell her it was no big deal, but she always got so upset, even with things like "see you later". And she got mad at my sister when my sister asked me if I'd watched some movie I wanted to watch the night before. Silly people.
lol. silly silly sighties. I don't get the "Look" thing much.
talking about seeing things, there are people asking me on how do you know what colour is that? do you smell the colour? if so, what smell represent what colour? how do you know what to whare in order to suit your shirt and your pants? such, um, stupid question in my opinion.
and, i can see a bit actually, so, not a problem for me to differentiate the colour at all. but the sighties just,... well,... hahaha
I was once asked if it was true that a criminal offense called mopery existed. This guy told me that he'd seen it on the movie revenge of the nerds. Mopery is what people get arrested for when they're caught flashing blind people.
any of you guys ever get this? I'll say I watched a tv show or a movie, then you get some smart ass sighty that will inevitably go, "well you didn't really watch it did you? Don't you mean you listened to it? ok they're technicly correct, but grrr that totally annoys the fuck outa me!
I was talking to some sighted person on a voicemail system once, and he offered up these two ideas. I don't know if I buy them or not, but this guy was trying to tell me why sighted folk act the way they do. This is in regards to visual terms such as "look" and "see" and "watch." So the first argument is that sighted people are afraid to use words like the ones I just mentioned because they feel we already have enough of a hard time of it just living as a blind person, so using words like that in front of us is like reminding us that yes, in fact, we can't see and it's throwing our disability back in our faces. Uh, yeah. Now, pick your jaw back up off the floor, because here comes another one. The second argument is that sighted folk get confused if we as blind people use those same words in our own vocabulary because of course how can we watch a movie when our eyes don't work. I guess the sighted folks he hangs out with tend not to think too much or understand things in the figurative. Also, words like "see" have lots of meanings that do not involve experiencing something visually. OK, that's it. Feel ya later. LOL!
I've gotten that too Cam, and it is annoying. I've also gotten the color of your clothes question which really isn't stupid. Lol, I just wear whatever I pull out of my closet/dresser.
Yeah. I get really anoyed when I say "I saw the movie," and a sighty says "you listened to it."
When I was younger some of my relatives used to do that too, but now they stopped doing it.
I usually don't mind that, as I sometimes say that I listened to a movie or am feelin/touching something instead of watching/looking at it. It depends how others say it though. I've had family members joke about my blindness or say how can you "watch" see something, but I could tell they were smiling and/or they were laughing while saying it. But their was one time where one of my uncles, when I mentioned watching a movie said "You were watching it? You were watching it?" in a tone that was teasing but kind of like making fun of it like expecting an actual response from me or something. That really made me upset, the tone he used as it was more like he was teasing to make fun of me. So he never did that again, and we still joke about my blindness in a way where it is funny. Like another of my uncles jokingly accuses me of not being blind since I know my way to his house but will still help me when I need it and talk to me like anyone else, or my sister and one of my aunts says that they should just do or give me certain things since I can't see anyway, but of course they're smiling or laughing when saying that. So usually I don't mind but it depends on how they mean it.
As for people who appologize about saying see/look, I haven't had much of those incidences, but when I do, I just tell them I don't mind them using those words. I don't remember of any people who felt uncomfortable using them after that, and/or maybe I didn't pay much attention to it if they did. I don't like it though when people act like it's sad I can't see something, although I personally feel like that too. Well, I don't think it's so much that I'm sad about not seeing it, but if it's say something in a display, or box or picture, I wish or feel like there should be a way where I could touch it (if possible of course.), as that personally means more to me than just a verbal discription. But I don't actually feel like I should have to enjoy it, by litterally looking at it the same way they do.
Another thing that I'm not sure was mentioned yet is when some people expect a blind person to know who they are, the "who am I" thing. I don't get that often but sometimes I do, and it feels crappy because sometimes their voices can sound like other similar ones, or their voices may have changed because they got older, but either of these people still think you might remember them somehow. In the latter case and sometimes in the former one (if I don't see that person often), if they ask do you remember me, and I don't, I just honestly say "no." I feel somewhat bad about it, but can't really feel too bad on that since I really wouldn't have been able to recognize them. But if it's someone I see more often but don't hang out with much, like someone who always says hi to me or who I've had in a class or something and I can't recognize them because they might sound similar to other voices, I sometimes feel bad because sometimes I even feel like I should know them but I really honestly can't recognize them either, if they don't have a distinct voice. Starting from maybe a couple of years ago though, I will ask their names if I don't recognize them, and they don't mind, but I think most people I know, I can tell who they are already. There are some people though that will get offended if you don't remember them, like this friend of one of my uncle's who usually said hi to me when we were all in college, but other than that, we never really had a conversation, as I was usually passing by to go to class. She had one day asked if I knew who she was, but because she didn't really have a distinct voice and we didn't talk much and she had only told me her name a few times before, or I think my uncle had introduced us, I said "no." And she said in an annoyed tone, what her name was. At that point though, in a way I felt bad, but in another way I didn't care, since she shouldn't have assumed that I would have some kind of perfect memory for voices anyway. Again, though in some cases, I don't mind the "who am I" thing, of course when I know I will get it right, and when it is used as a game like for example when my nephew puts his hands over my eyes or he or another person tries to change their voice. That last one only worked once, with one of my former high school teachers, and when he finally told us who he was, me and another blind friend thought that was pretty funny and couldn't stop laughing about it for a few minutes. *smile*
yeah, i hate when someone comes up to me and says "hi" and i say "hi and whoever the person's name is" and they ask "do you know who i am?" um... dumb ass? i just said your name?
I was once asked by a class mate if I'd ever read the short story The Will to Kill by Robert Bly or Block, I can't remember the author's exact name. He told me that after he'd read this book, he never trusted blind people again. He said this in a sort of mock-serious tone. I still don't know what this short story talks about though, maybe one of you guys know...
Yeah. My family and friends sometimes joke with me about my blindness, but I can also tell that they are smiling. I absolutely hate it when people ask me to guess there names. Again, when it is family or friends making funny voices I don't mind, but when it is someone I don't talk to much I get really anoyed.
I haven't run into this for a long time, but if somebody asked me who I thought they were, I'd probably just be honest and say I didn't know or remember who they were. If they are disappointed or offended that I did not have the amazing powers of instant recall they thought I had, it's really their problem, isn't it?
I have these extremely blue prosthetic eyes which people notice a lot. They often ask if they're my real eyes, or if they're contacts. This morning, my paratransit driver asked me if I ever dreamed, and if so, whether I saw things in dreams that I couldn't see in real life. Never got that one before.
I hate the "do you know who I am" thing. I always say "no", because I don't want to reinforce a feeling of awe in the questioner <lol>.
Occasionally, I get from little kids "do you know where I am?" Them, I show no mercy grabbing them if they are close and tickling them mercilessly.
Bob
OK, here's a question just out of curiosity far as how you guys think. Where do you personally draw the line between questions asked out of genuine curiosity and good intentions and questions that are just too personal. In my own case, I'm just not going to talk to some stranger about my bathroom habits or other very personal things. I might talk about dreams or how I became blind, even though some people think talking about medical history is too personal. So where do you draw the line or do you draw a line at all?
Good question G-O-T.
Actually, I find that it kind of depends on my mood. If I'm in a good mood and the person seems genuinely interested, then I'll answer almost anything. Otherwise, I either ignore them or give a flipant answer.
Once this girl who thought she was beauty personified (and she may have been, I don't know) asked me how blind people had sex. I told her I couldn't explain it, I'd have to show her. Boy was she pissed.
Bob
Lol, good try. Um, I draw the line at things most people consider; bodily habits and stuff. But yeah, it depends on my mood, how the person asks, and stuff.
In my opinion, I think being too secretive or totally tight-lipped about anything, even about what most consider very private and personal, is unnecessary. If I don't have a rotting body hidden in my closet, then what the heck is the big deal about talking with others about my personal life? I don't consider myself so important or so extraordinary that divulging or voluntarily sharing information about myself would harm me. To a very identical degree, all human beings are human beings and live out their earthly lives in the same way. Unless information about financial documents or documents dealing with identity were being asked of me, I have no problem whatsoever with sharing with others how I wipe my crack, chew my lunch, watch television, etc, etc, all things which everybody else does too.
I don't draw a line, but if people ask me personal questions I try to give them a smart answer! I know it's not right, but I just love to see these people get pist when I do this!
I'm in agreement with Raskolnikov.
And Bob, yet again...*giggling at your most recent post*. Hee.
just the other day, i was walking downtown with my roommate, and a guy came up and told us that if we had gone to church with him, we'd have our site back by the next week.
This i think is the topper. This from my DOCTOR. My husband and i had a scare a few months ago, we thought I may be pregnant. I am only 40 and in decent health besides my blindness. When I told my doctor why I was there. She looked shocked and said "Are you sexually active" Duh, I have been married for 15 years... I could not believe a Doctor could be so ignorant.
OK, this has got to be the most unusual question of them all
I attended a training facility for about 5 months, so, I was waiting on my transportation and this girl walked up to me and asked me do I use a braille toothbrush? I thought that was very strange
Oh, has anyone been told that they don't sound blind?
I didn't know we had our own language.
Toothbrush? Oh my God. Guess it has the end with the bristles on it marked for us.
I guess so. Some sighted people are so unaware of how stupid their questions are, it's just rediculous.
peaches
I could be wrong, because I doubt I could get an honest answer from a sighted person, but I'll assume that sounding blind means having kind of a meek or hesitant or apolegetic quality to your speech if that makes any sense. Perhaps not sounding blind means speaking assertively or clearly or something. Just a guess, mind you, but there ya have it.
I was living in Lubock one time, and a cab driver asked me how I knew where things were and what they were when I was shopping. I had had a hard day, and off the top of my head I told him I had an antenna in my forehead which relayed signals back to my brain, and a little voice in my head told me where things were, and what things were. He went back to the dispatch office, and actually convinced everyone it was true. They and he actually believed it. (laughing my head off)
I've got several responses to this. One: isn't it great or at least amusing when you can play with people's heads like that without actually meaning to? Two: if a sighted person meets a blind person for the first time, does their curiosity so overwhelm their bullshit detector that it throws a fit and shuts down? I see this too often. You get with some sighted person you don't know from Adam and they start in with the questions without even a how-do-you-do and because you're feeling especially snarky or just creative you give them a smart-aleck answer and they swallow it hook, line and sinker without one red flag popping up. I think this is something that should be added to those flyers blindness organizations hand out to sighted folks. On occasion, blind folks will use humor to express themselves, even if it isn't the most appropriate situation. Please do not assume everythint they tell you is absolute gospel literal truth just because you asked a sincere question. They may have had a bad day, because blind folks can have bad days just like everyone else, or may have been asked the same questions one too many times. Like you, we are not infinitely patient. Please use the same critical thinking tools you would use when talking to your fellow sighted folks. Thank you.
Bullshit Detector, That's good! lol Um, I was on a bus one time on a mobility lesson, and someone had the nerve to walk up to me and ask if I had a family who cared about me. What the hell was wrong with that person? Anyway, I just said, "Yes," and left it at that.
at school the other day, this lady ask me, now mind you I had my guide dog with me. She ask where is your cane.
I was in the grocery store the other day picking up some stuff and someone asked me if I was getting picked up. now that in itself is a fine question. But then they said "so, you live with your parents right?" "No, I have my own place. i live by myself at the moment". They were so surprised at that answer. it was insulting really.
wow, these are very interesting, yeah, actually, its kind of interesting, because my recent ex even asks me some questions like, how do i know when to turn, and how to use a cane in certain places, he'd recently lost his site in one eye, so it was wierd. lol
I once got the question, "How do you do your homework?" It was kind of awkward because I hadn't really used anything computer-related at that time. My vision teacher was translating it for the teacher. I knew how to type, but didn't have the means to do it at home. Thank God I do now.
I said this on another board, and I'll say it here. Although we're supposed to give people the benefit of the doubt and assume they really want to know, it's pretty amusing when you hear the questions to figure out the really off-the-wall assumptions people make about us and our lives and such.
well i have been asked how i can watch tv or..when our stepbrother was younger, all of us kids slept on our dad's couch/bed thing, and he asked, do you close your eyes when you sleep
hmm, i don't know, do you?lol, i didn't ask him that but, don't we all, well the ones that can anyway
and for the tv thing, i say "well can you watch the radio?" i do say listen to tv but that just sounds really stupid imo
then there was someone who said to me how can you have sex if you cant see
I was over at a friends place one day and we were talking me, him and her mom, when I used the words watch tv. Then his mom began yelling at me saying, you shouldn't use that word, I don't think it's adequate for blind people to use it. You didn't watch TV, you listened to it! I was like uhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm... ok.
Wow sorry.. me messed up. I said me him and her mom? Ok, I ment his.
my comeback would be "well you don't watch the radio do you?" lol
Lol good one. We don't watch radio in spain, we listen to it.
If it were me, I'd explain to the person, providing they'd stop yelling and let me get a word in edgewise, that I grew up with the rest of my family being sighted, so when I said I watch TV, they knew what I meant even though I wasn't speaking in the literal sense. I do wish people would understand that blind folks are capable of speaking and understanding in figurative terms and not just literal ones, and if the sighted are offended by it let hem be offended. Some folks mean well but are not too bright.
This didn't happen to me. She was being asked a bunch of personal questions by this one woman on a bus, or something like that. Anyway, the questioner had the nerve to ask, "So, your husband helps you bathe, right?" That got me really pissed off for some reason.
I've been asked at my places of employment if I needed help getting to the restrooms. I've always assured them that I just need to know where they are so I can get there myself. LOL!
OK, is it just me, or do any of you think people can get their disabilities mixed up, what with asking a person if their husband helps them bathe or such. I could see somebody asking such a question of somebody who couldn't move their arms, but what does blindness have to do with the ability to bathe yourself independently? Then if we really want to open up a can of worms, there's the notion that a spouse is more a live-in care attendant than a person you're romantically involved with. Has anyone, for example, come up to your boyfriend or girlfriend or spouse, especially if they're sighted, and praised them for being so caring and saintly as if the only reason you were together was so the blind person could be taken care of, but silly things like love or friendship or *gasp* sexuality do not enter into it.
No, but my sister and sometimes my mom have been talked to like that it's so nice that they go to school with me )the times that they would), and/or helping me with my classes. It's annoying to hear comments like that, and especially for my sister. (I don't know what my mom thinks, and I get mad when it happens but I just forget about it after awhile. The only reasons she and my mom would go with me to school is when they were going the same place anyway and so it wouldn't make sense to take paratransit, and of course they would help because they wanted to and had time for that.) But yeah, I tend to get that"Aww, that's nice your spending time with her, or that you're helping her with whatever." It annoys me as I mentioned, but I don't how to respond to that, at least out loud anyway *smile*, so I don't say anything back to those people. Anyway, that assumption is somewhat easier (for me) to put up with than others like that I don't know where I'm going/doing or that I'm hard of hearing or things like that.
The lack of common sense in some people astounds me.
Oh, I thought I was the only one asked about wiping my but. Have had the sex question and the steps as well. I especially get a lot of questions when I am playing in a bar and I get down to have a beer and boy the questions flow from how do you watch tv and can you use the phone!!
but I remember when we had the black out, I was the only one not to panic, did miss my ball game though LOL everybody couldn't figure out what to do!
This is a grait topic!
Brian
have you guys ever got asked "how do you get dressed?" or "did you see that tree in front of you" (when there was no sutch thing)
How many fingers am I holding up. If I tell them I can see. Sometimes when I say I can see a little they get confused because they, the sighted people, think that all blind people can't see.
true that I get the same reaction
Do you guys remember pressing your eyes as a child? well, i used to do that with my right eye, and one of my friends in elementary school saw me doing it, and asked me if it hurt. I was like, "um ... no"
I’d have to say one of the most interesting questions I’ve received as a result of my blindness was as follows: Because your eyes are always half closed, do you feel sleepy? when you close them all the way?
Another was: How do you know whether you’re urinating in the toilet or the bathtub?
I’d thing that one would have been an obvious answer, but the ignorance of some people simply astounds me!!!
My friend saw this person walking across a lighted street downtown, and gave me this question; How do you cross the street without getting run over by cars? so, i took the time to explain about how we have to listen to the way traffic is moving through the intersections to determine when it's safe to cross. She cought on after a little bit.
One of the children who lies next door to us is about 4 or5 and he asked me once "re you going to wakeup no?", because my eyes are usually half closed or nearly closed and he must have thought I was seeping or something.
That seems to be a commone question from little ones.
Let's see. I have had most of these questions above. the one that sticks out is:
I was out walking one day and I passed up a liquor store. A guy came out and asked me whether I had found anything. I was confused, and asked him what he meant. He then asked what I was doing with that metal detector. You see, he mistook my cane for a metal detector. I've had people call it a branch, pole, and most often a stick.
speaking of metal detectors, just a little side note every time I go into this one particular grocery store, my cane always sets off the metal detector when I leave the store. At first, it was embarrassing but the people in the store understood what it was.
Kerby
My grandad always jokes around that when I'm using my cane, I'm hoovering up the pavement. It really annoys me when sighted pople calls canes sticks.
yeah, I've gotten the stick thing too. Here's something you can do that will prevent a sighted individual from never asking you that kind of question again, at least when it comes to the bathroom variety. If someone asks you if you have trouble wiping your ass, you say well, i was always kind of fuzzy on that, would you like to maybe volunteer? whenever I have to wipe the shit out of my ass, I will call you. LOL!
Somebody in my class asked me if the restroom signs were useful. I told him no because we figure out where they are and which ones without reading them.
That's true. Just remember where the rooms are or count along the doors.
Myn favorite questions are
1 Do you know sign Language?
2 and they see my braillenote, and this one lady asked,
Is that a musical instrument?
I remember a time where I was asked to teach kindergarten kids about blindness. It was in my sister's class. My mother was there. One of the questions was, "How do you put on your shoes?" I didn't want to be rude, so I just answered the question. LOL. Another question was, "How do you play the flute?" I was like, "Like any sighted person who can play the flute. I blow into the headjoint, it makes a sound, I work on my tone, etc etc.
I can't remember any other questions that I can recall, but if I think of more, I'll post them.
Macy
I've had people walk up to me and say that god wil bring me my sight. But, the weirdest one of all was when I was walking through time, and I had this real hippy of a guy walk up to me. I actually think he was high. Anyway, he noticed I was blind, and asked: "hey man, so like, you can't use your eyes, right? Or at least to se? But can you look into the past and the future? Cuzz like I wanna know what's gunna happen to me, man." I respectfully said "no, sorry..." and walked off
Well, I've read all of these because I wanted to see what other people have been tormented with by the sighted and unintelligent 70 percent of the population out there.
It appears I have been asked most of these, about how do you have sex, about the steps which is annoying, about finding things and places and colors. There's one I get a lot from both kids, which I can sort of understand, and adults which should have the common sense not to ask. How many fingers am I holding up? One, I don't know and two, I don't really care. I lived in the cities where blind people with dogs and canes are more common, but I still got weird questions, but now that I moved out of town, things have gotten worse. When you walk with a cane, have you ever been asked which war you were injured in? Well, I have by some old farmer out here. As for the do you drive, I say yes because I have and I know how, as for am I supposed to, well, no by state law. Well, it should be said I've only driven on country roads and no in traffic.
This is to Lou, I think I did, when younger, tell someone that part about if they didn't move my house it is still where I left it this morning, and, this was coming from an adult.
Someone asked me once how I go shopping and I think I told them I go in the store and grab things and hope for the best, but usually I try to be patient, mainly with the kids.
Sighted people freak out when you tell them you baked or cooked something on the stove, ran the lawn mower, (we have an interesting looking lawn), vaccuumed, cut something with sicors, or anythinglike that.
Sometimes people are idiots!
Chas
If some one asks you how many fingers they are holding up, just look in their direction, and say I don't know how many am I holding up? Then flip 'em off. That'll shut them up real quick.
Someone once asked my Dad How I knew how to tell which shoe went on each foot. And not long ago, my boss was giving me a heads up about something he was going to say in a meeting concerning me and concluded, "i didn't want to blindside you with it." Then of course he got all dramatic and freaked out about saying "blindsided" to me. I told him it wasn't necessary to alter his vocabulary because of my blindness. Sighties are hilarious.
Hi. I'm blind and the questions i've had are so many I can't count. But I remember once when one girl actually believed e when i said I got my driver's lisence. I haven't gotten to correct her. but I like weird questions because when you look at them they are generally not that weird. I sometimes have presentations in classes in school and the funny thing is you get the same kind of questions from 7 year olds as 17 yar olds.
I was approached by a random person on the street once and asked if my cane had magnets in it, so that I could find the curb...I didn't even know what the hell to say to that.
Just to bring this topic back and to give it a bit of life ... Some questions that kids ask are fair enough, but not adults. They should have the common sense really not to bother with pointless questions questions. When I was 8 or 9, I was asked by some random sighted child "are you sleepwalking?" because of the way I was walking around the garden or something! Hahahahahahaha!
I guess it wouldn't exactly be weird, but more awkward.
Last year, a doctor did not believe I was blind. Now, I have no idea how he was able to overlook my white cane, but he did and didn't believe I was blind, let alone totally blind.
So he proceeds to shine a light straight into my eyes and asks, in a thick accent I assume to be Yiddish or some sort of Jewish language I'm not sure, "Is the light on or off?"
"dude, I don't know." I responded.
This continued for another two minutes, until I guess he was convinced. But man, was it ever awkward!
One time, I was at the fair and the ride operator didn't want me to ride the ride because he was afraid that since I'm blind I would freak out and panic on a ride! lol!
in response to the last poster, I've gotten that one too. I've also been told on more occasions than I can count that I can't ride certain rides because of my blindness.
Well, this isn't exactly a question, but I was once asked if i'd ever smoked weed, and when i said no, the person said, "good, you'd have to see to enjoy it anyway." That was possibly the weirdest conversation i've ever had about my blindness.
I've had the usual silly questions. I'll not list the ones already here, but one of the stupidest i've ever had was, "How do you know when your eggs are boiled?" Well, shock here, folks, just the same as sighted people do! i time 'em, take 'em out, crack them and hope for the best.
Perhaps the weirdest and the one which made me laugh hardest came from a youngster I was on a course with. We were both learning to be youth leaders, and were away on a weekend event. I'd just met Emma, who sat down beside me at dinner. She was talkative for a while, but then got really quiet and thoughtful. I didn't trouble her, thinking she'd had enough of me, but the reason for her thoughtfulness was soon apparent.
"carly," said she in a serious tone, turning to me, "If I was to stab you in the eye with this fork, would it hurt?"
Well, I laughed so hard that I couldn't answer her. After a while, she saw the funny side.
I've never been told I can't enjoy a ride because I can't see; that's very strange.
One thing that's really weird and disgusting is when people ask if my brother is my boyfriend because I depend on him for sighted guide. That makes it pretty obvious that many sighted people aren't observant, because my brother and I look very a like. How sick.
wow; sick indeed.
I've been asked how I know I'm on my period.
My great uncle who i never really see that often is so worrysome about my blindness and I really hate him for it. But the poor guy, he doesnt know. The funnyest thing he ever did to me, well i guess it is not that funny, but all the other stuff thats happened to me has already been mentioned on this board, and to me it was funny, anyway he said, do you want a coffee, I was living at my granddad's at the time and he was staying a few days there, so i said, no, i'll make it for myself thanks, do you want one, he says no, i'll make both of ours, you just sit here and wait. I thought, ok, fair enough, I'll accept, no work for me. Then he comes back outside and walks over to me and puts the cup down in front of me, and i reach out to touch it and he freaks out and yells, be careful, be careful! its hot. I said, really? I thought it would be cold. I think he got embarrassed after that cuz now we laugh about it. He realised how rediculous it was.
lol! I think that's absolutely hilarious!
I've gotten the how do you know you're on your period question from a gay friend at my public high school. He said because I was blind, he didn't think I would have them. LOL
that's odd...not having periods cuz you're blind? wow...
this is going to be funny..
someone asked me how my guid dog helps me with the shower
Um ... OK. Your guide dog helping you with the shower? Random! And ... Not having periods because your blind? Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! How stupid can some people get!?
Oh and there's always, and you can use a computer? It's like Duh...?
Someone also said it must be hard navigate in the rain and asked about how I did it.
So I give someone the time, and they are like, how do you know? As if I can magically tell time and that watch I'm waring is just for looks. I wonder how they can overlook that I am opening up the watch lid and reading it? It'ss quite obvious what I'm doing, and yet, they miss that part.
Lol. I remember one time my uncle thought my Braille Note was a purse, and when I opened it up and started typing, he was like, "how did you do that?" Of course I was totally confused, and that's when he told me he thought it was my purse. I explained and he was like, "So do you keep your money and everything in there too?" I just laughed hysterically at that.
I was at the super market shopping for food, and the casheere noticed that i have to hold my money up to my eyes to read it. Well, she said, "I didn't know that different denominations of money had different smells." I said they don't, i just have to hold my money up close so I can read the money, lol.