On a beautiful day at Atlantic Station in Atlanta, we all trooped into a large waiting room and presented our tickets. Excursions begin about every half hour, and the whole experience lasts about 45 minutes. First, we were given canes like blind people use and told how to use them. Then a sighted guide took about 10 of us in a room where we were seated on cubes of light in front of a metal railing about 3 feet high. He explained that the lights would slowly dim into total darknes. If anyone had a feeling of claustrophobia, they were to say so, and they would be taken out of the room. It turns out that several of the group availed themselves of this option.
The remainder of us were told to follow our guide's voice. She was a new person than the man who brought us in the room before the lights went out. She had been blind for some years due to early onset glaucoma. She had a pleasant voice, and we all tentatively worked our way to it. She seemed to hear where we were. We then followed her to another room where it became evident that we were in a park, walking on grass, could feel a stone wall that was wet, and hear a brook with a waterfall. We then crossed a bridge, and found ourselves in a grocery store. On my left, I could feel different vegetables and fruits in a produce case but see nothing. Then we went through canned goods and wound up at a checkout line. The lady explained how grocery stores have people available to help blind people orient themselves. Next, came a boat ride! We carefully entered what seemed to be a boat and sat down. The water sounds and the rocking of the boat were realistic. Next, we stood on a curb and listened to the sounds of a busy street before crossing it.
After crossing the street, we next entered the cafe where we stood at the counter and ordered the drinks. Our guide (now bartender) knew the drinks by the shapes. She could not tell between a diet coke and a regular coke since they are in the same shape container. We paid with bills, and she made change. We knew ahead of time to have 0ne dollar bills in a certain pocket, so that was not a problem. While we drank, we were encouraged to ask her questions about being sightless.
Some things that I learned:
Persons born sightless have no memory of colors. Think about describing the color red to someone who had never seen the color red. Probably good to have a sighted person help these folks with wardrobe choices.
Persons with sight who become blind, all have a photo memory of a color ingrained in their brains.
Sightless people, in this day and time, have learned to travel, shop, and get around in cities by various means. Not the least of these is having a place for everything in their homes, putting canned goods marked with rubber bands, paper clips, etc. in order in their cabinets. Having markers on socks, etc.
Textures can tell one a lot about what things are. Restaurants serve sightless people with instructions as to where on the clock their foods are on their plates.
By the time our tour was finished, I almost felt that I could see things in my mind's eye without the use of light. I was reminded of a sightless man that I see getting on a train in Luzern. He counts stops until he knows where to get off. Usually there are people he knows at the same stop, so I know he would have help if needed.
An unexpected result of our tour was the loss of a feeling of personal space. It was almost an hour of walking into other people, touching them with hands, feet, and cane, and generally intruding on other's space. As we began to leave the bar, a young lady told me that she was going to place her hand on my back and let me lead her to the door. We made our exit, but I never saw her.
Sightless people may have a blank stare, but they are thinking all the time.
No comments:
Post a Comment