Early evening of Thanksgiving Day last year, I idled up the driveway of a large house near the beach. The Boss insists that we are at least ten minutes early for pickups. And so I was.
Unusually, there was a knot of people waiting.
Good evening, I said to the middle-aged man. I am Wombat from The Boss's Limousine service.
Hello Wombat, I am Stuart Little, thank you for being so prompt.
You're welcome sir.
You know you're taking my mother back to St Petersburg?
Yessir, I have the address.
Good, I'll just go get her. Oh, by the way she's blind.
She was indeed a blind woman, white cane and all, but certainly didn't need the help of all fifteen members of the family to negotiate the stairs down to my car.
As I opened the rear door, she asked where she needed to sit, and I said to her:
I have opened the right rear door, ma'am, that will give you the most comfortable ride with the most legroom.
I want to sit in the front with you. I like knowing where I'm going.
Very good ma'am, just let me adjust the seat.
And with that she plonked herself up with me.
As I was about to leave, the son leant in close and whispered,
If you get lost, she'll tell you the way.
Which is exactly what she did. I described every intersection to her as we approached and she gave precise guidance to the front door of her nursing home.
If only the sighted people could give equally coherent directions.
The drawing of life metaphors I'll leave to you.
Technorati: Blind, Limousine Life, Giving Directions, Braille.
7 comments:
How awesome! Bit like my dad, not that he is blind, but when I did his shopping for him in Oz, on the list he even told me what aisle number the product was in (and he hasn't been in that supermarket for years!)
I love that you gave her the information she needed to see; you treated her like the person/human she is.
Some people would have been awkward with her, like she wasn't all right in the head, and driven in silence while consulting the directions they'd been given.
VI, that is awesome. How those old folks' minds work is something else.
I bet he even knows where the pimentos hide in that supermarket.
Girl, we formed an unbeatable team that night. I also received a thirty minute dissertation on the history and development of braille.
All in all, a successful night.
I hope I'm feisty and self sufficent when I'm old and in my dottage. I have the worst sense of direction though so I better hope I don't go blind. I would be the one walking in circles yelling "are we there yet?"
...which will make you perfect for smashing the Piñata at my 100th birthday party.
Entertainment galore.
oh wombat, i'll make a good passenger then, friends and cab drivers were always amazed how well-timed and precise my directions given to them, i guess many people don't really know the drivers need reaction time and the lane to turn may be blocked!
and i can read maps without turning them upside down too!
Skinny, I loved you before, I love you more now.
I have at least twenty posts lined up revolving around the fact that people expect me to be a mind-reader. Not only do they want me to know where they're thinking of going, I need to know exactly how to get there.
By osmosis, apparently.
i guess many people don't really know the drivers need reaction time and the lane to turn may be blocked!
Exactly!
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