A Little Common Sense Goes A Heck Of A Long Way.

I posted the following to a Guelph group after my experience at Tim Horton’s today. 

 Dear Guelph. 

PSA here. 

Blind ranges from profoundly blind (can’t see a damn thing) to legally blind (has various visual issues that prevent one from doing some things, while allowing them to do others). Same with folks who have hearing problems. They can be all different kinds of “hard of hearing,” Not all are profoundly deaf. People who use wheelchairs, canes and other mobility aids can sometimes walk without them, they just can’t keep it up long enough to walk like the average person expects. Our abilities can also fluctuate depending on how many tasks we need to do at once. If I’m focusing on staying on my feet, I’m not going to have the visual comprehension to recognize a face, but I can still spot the conformity of a restaurant franchise, for example. Every Tim’s sign is identical, but you & your twin may not be.

Today Hubby & I went to the Tim Horton’s at Wellington & Gordon. Reason being, they have public benches, and we’re both legally blind with mobility issues. We missed our stop because it flew by too fast, and so we had to walk an extra block. Juuuuuust as I was honing on in a free bench, someone meeting the crowd on the other bench threw his bike on the ground right in front of me. I asked him to move it, and he said “go around.” I stood my ground for several reasons. 

1) I was a bit dizzy from having to walk too far and was in no position to change course without losing my balance. 

2) I had something to grab on to. There was a pole of some sort. 

3) He threw it right in the path of an oncoming pedestrians. Doesn’t matter whether it was you, me, or someone else. Cyclists need to keep bikes out of the way of pedestrians. Would he have thrown it in the path of an oncoming car? 

I acknowledge that cyclists are stuck beteeen a rock and a hard place. They feel threatened by cars on the road, and feel persecuted by pedestrians. Drivers, y’all need to respect cyclists the way I’m saying they should respect pedestrians. 

If you operate something with wheels, be aware that you move faster than some, and can create obstacles for others, if you just toss yoor v hocke on the ground. 

Please watch out for others for yoor sake as well as ours. Watch where you’re going, watch where you toss your gear, and For The Love Of God (I don’t use God’s Name lightly) when someone tells you they have a disability, don’t argue with them. A person may have a blind uncle, that doesn’t mean they know everything. 

It’s hard enough for the physically challenged to exercise. A lack of public benches means a lack of places to stop and re-charge. The challenged need to exercise as much as anyone, and not all disabilities are going to be visible.