I was riding the bus home the other day. A blind man got on the bus with his seeing eye dog, and his nurse assistant. After like 10 blocks, the blind man started bossing the woman around. Her response to him was submissive and obedient. Just like the dog. I watched in shock. This was the first time I had seen an angry jackass blind man. As far as I was concerned, blind people have always been nice, intelligent, and for the most part, creative people. Basically, I have never met a blind person that I didn’t like.
Here is an expercience that i have about being blind. It was my first year of college, in Idaho. I volunteered to read for the blind at the local radio station, KRICK. I was given a choice of reading either daily headlines, and obituaries. I chose obituaries. I was placed in a studio room all by myself and read to my audience for a half hour every Tuesday night at 8pm. As I read, I imagined all of these floating sets of ears just hovering in space, absorbing information. Other times I would imagine my audience, old, and blind, wearing brown cords, or polyester floral house dresses, sitting alone by their old brown radios, listening to who had died, while periodically smiling and rubbing their hands together when they recognized a name. I had to wear headphones, making it possible for me to hear my voice for the first time. I remember finding to so soothing that at certain points I would yawn, and say to my audience - "oh. excuse me. big day at school. Anyway - George Clay of Idaho Falls died in his sleep on Wednesday. During his youth George enjoyed...." As so on.
One night, as I was reading I came across the obituary of a baby. I was startled at first when I read what the parents had written about the short life they had shared with the newborn. I started to get upset, and stopped reading. As I sat there in silence, I realized that not being able to see or hear my audience was starting to upset me - I wanted to share the sadness I felt for the parents, but was in turn alone in that recording room. It occurred to me that this is what it must feel like to be blind. I just kind of dazed out, staring at the tape reel. Anyway. The woman in charge finally knocked on the door because I think this went on for like 5 minutes. She asked me if everything was going to be okay. I said "yeah" and eventually picked up the paper and started reading again. I never received any kind of response from the listeners, but I remember leaving and feeling this connection with all of those floating ears. I felt like I knew what it was like to be blind, and knowing this felt invincible.
That’s all I have to say about blind people.