The other day I was in a restaurant for dinner, I was hoping to enjoy a quite meal & get back home to finish my work for the day. I heard a guy & a girl chit chatting on the adjacent table, I did not give much thought to them…once I finished my meal I was waiting for my driver to come back & pick me up…my driver came after 5mins & I thought he was near me so I called out his name. In reality my driver “mallesh” went out of the dining room that I was in & I have no clue that he is not there beside me…
He came to me after 2minutes & we left the restaurant….Mallesh told me something that pained me a little then…Babu the adjacent table folks are thinking that you are having some mental illness or problem. When you are searching for me they are signaling to restaurant staff & trying to say something through hand signals. Hearing this it pained me a bit at the first but then from their stand point if I think there is nothing wrong…they are trying to help me & have no idea how to handle the situation. They don’t know that I am blind & they thought I might have some mental disability because I am dependent on Mallesh.
Lessons learned here are
I should have carried my white cane.
I should have been more independent.
If I carried my white cane & if I was independent I think people would have understood that I am blind & not mentally ill. I am going to carry my white cane from now on & since I advocate the same I need to set an example.
It’s a shame Raghav. We must learn to be sensitive, no matter what. They had eyes but they couldn’t see that you couldn’t see. Coming to quick conclusions without understanding a situation… Bad and hurtful…
It is sad how even educated people sometimes lack the ability to handle such situations.
Hey Ragahv, people around you can talk and will talk whatever they want and you shouldn’t be worried about that. I’m glad that I met you and know you.