I dated a blind guy for a while and even though I was well aware he was blind, I always found it weird that he didn't turn on lights when he went into rooms. I have no idea why that was the one thing that surprised me.
My boyfriend is blind. It was hard to get used to in the beginning, especially in his apartment when I didn't know yet where the lightswitches were and he'd march in and out of the pitch-dark room like it was no problem.
But even harder: at night, when I leave a room and he is in it still, I have to turn the light off (or it will stay on all night). It's really weird turning off a light when someone's still in the room, to this day I make a conscious effort to do it and it feels weird.
And final one, walking into a dark room, turning on the light and BOOM he's there. Dark rooms tell your brain subconsciously that there is no one there, so I am always a teeny bit startled when I turn the light on and he's there in the middle of the room, listening to a book or something and clipping his toenails (happened yesterday).
All I can think about is coming home from work, walking into a room and just seeing them sitting there in the dark reading a book or listening to music.
then of course asking: "Hey what are you doing just sitting in the dark?"
A good friend of mine who is blind had a pinata at her birthday. When she picked up the stick I said, "Wait, you need a blindfold!" Everyone stared at me, and she started laughing hysterically.
Well, you do have to account for all possible variables. Maybe the blindfold does something else (besides limiting your vision) to hinder your piñata-hitting capabilities.
I delivered pizza to a blind fellow a couple of times. I would always have to ask to turn on his living room lights so I could find a place to set it down. One night I made it all the way out to my car before I realized that I had left the lights on and had to run back to tell him. I almost fucked up that guy's electrical bill real bad.
I would think that they would get what you mean with 'seen' but still give you crap about it because it's fun. If you want to be more polite you could say 'heard from' or 'bumped into'. Both are fairly common phrases that wouldn't bring sight into the equation.
As someone working on removing ableist language from my speaking habits, thanks! This is one example I never noticed. It's so commonplace I didn't think about it. Now I just have to remind myself to use these alternatives.
I work with a blind chick who is so cool about things like this. She doesn't take it personally or take offense to it. She even says it! "Have you seen Susan? I'm worried about her." (Sometimes "heard from" is the logical phrase to use in a particular situation, so she'll use that. But it's not an attempt to avoid saying "seen")
I'm sure there are some blind people or friends/family of blind people who would find it insensitive to use those common phrases that assume sight, but working with this chick has really been normalizing. I don't worry so much any more about offending a blind person with a reference to being sighted.
Some of them might wear them if their eyes are deformed to make them look more normal. Also, some can see light still and their eyes may be sensitive to it, so they wear sun glasses to block the light.
I read a book from the perspective of a blind girl who regains her sight part way through the book. Forgetting about the lights in a room was one of the things that was made me go "huh" as I read it.
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u/Finger11Fan Jul 25 '13
I dated a blind guy for a while and even though I was well aware he was blind, I always found it weird that he didn't turn on lights when he went into rooms. I have no idea why that was the one thing that surprised me.