| Published on | in Personal | | |
Maybe you can understand. How embarrassing...
Please, let me first apologize to everybody for appearing rude, impolite, arrogant or the like!
Being visually impaired becomes really embarrassing when meeting dear friends in the street.
How wide is a normal village street? Maybe 5 meters? So imagine this...
Walking in the street, I suddenly hear a "Hello". Automatically, I turn around and look in the direction from where the sound came. Well, there is someone. The person comes closer. "Hello" sounds again from the direction where I presume a head, this time with a personal address. "Um. Who speaks to me?" I'm asking myself. A person with head comes a few steps closer uttering "Don't you recognize me?"
Oh dear, that's embarrassing. Only at about a meter distance, I could see the face - and it was a person that I know for many years and meet very often.
It is not less embarrassing to go to your favorite place and greet regulars and even acquaintances as if they were strangers over and over again.
This happens, for example, when I get in and – partially depending on the light conditions – do not recognize who they are. Only when I hear a characteristic voice or see a typical gesture, it feels like "scales are falling off my eyes".
This happens, for example, when I get in and – partially depending on the light conditions – do not recognize who they are. Only when I hear a characteristic voice or see a typical gesture, it feels like "scales are falling off my eyes".
Characteristic features like being very tall, always wearing unusual glasses or an unusual hairdo and typical gestures and movements help to identify people.
A girlfriend at least, perhaps intuitively, did the right thing when we were on a market together. She noticed that I was looking for her but always "overlooked" her, and she did this very typical "Hello, I'm here" gesture.
Great! Typical or strong movement is more noticeable than a standing or slowly moving person.
Another situation of embarrassment was, when I was talking to a friend and I just wanted to see her facial expression. For that, I had to "look around the corner" (instead of looking at her face).
Poor her, I think she got a bit offended when I actually had this "staring" look above her head to the far corner of the room, in order to see her face. She automatically turned around to the direction I was looking at and I had to explain that I was just trying to see her face. That is a bit difficult.
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Poor her, I think she got a bit offended when I actually had this "staring" look above her head to the far corner of the room, in order to see her face. She automatically turned around to the direction I was looking at and I had to explain that I was just trying to see her face. That is a bit difficult.
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About this text
Jutta's Story texts were originally written in 2016-2017.
Since end of 2018 I am officially legally blind..
And I am proud to be a member of the Malta Society of the Blind.
