Following my earlier post, I realised that I hadn’t fully made my point and wanted to finish it. Sight, with its ability to see faces, might provide ways in to a more connected experience of neighbourhood and community than blindness. As people walk about the streets, nodding or smiling in acknowledgement of each other as they pass. Without being able to see people’s faces, to see them making such non-verbal acknowledgement of my existence, I find walking around the streets of my neighbourhood an isolating experience, passing countless people in complete silence and at most moving out of each other’s way (other than those who know me). This is far more so for me in the city where there are people who won’t speak to each other, than in the countryside where I might encounter nobody. I noticed people actually speaking to each other on the streets during lockdown – just saying ‘HI/Alright’ and hoped that the practice would continue, but it seems that things have all too quickly dr
I can’t say how irritating, embarrassing and patronising it feels to hear the phrase: “are you causing trouble again?” used as a greeting to me in a kind of over-familiar, knowing, slightly too loud, falsely aspirant voice, intended more to be heard by others than for me. It’s happened so many times over the years - in cafes, when I’ve been queuing at the counter, conferences when I’ve been trying to find somewhere to sit, arriving at a meeting and finding a seat or a cup of tea… It often happens when I am in a less than familiar or uncomfortable situation , and never said by people who are close to me, but by people who don’t know how to be around me, people who perhaps have a view of me, their way of matching me with some stereotype of blind people that I can be slotted into. I’m not a natural ‘trouble-causer’ )whatever that may be) or at least I don’t carry any trouble-causing that I might exude with pride or confidence. I can be difficult,, edgy sometimes, critical, challengi
Just crossing my road this morning returning from an early walk and painfully came upon an already large car with a protruding platform at shin height extending for probably a metre from the rear of the car and designed for carrying a number of bikes. While many rear cycle racks protrude significantly from the back of a vehicle, making them much longer than they appear, this addition was especially sneakily designed. Naturally impressed at its size, placement and what I could glean of the owner’s character, I was drawn not only to write about it, but also to do a bit of idol research. I found that it is part of the ‘Fuck you’ range of obtrusive cycle racks. As I couldn’t see the image clearly, I wasn’t sure if this model was the ‘Shin Bitch’, or the (slightly cheaper) ‘Trip’o’Twat’ – whichever, it certainly did its job very well this morning.
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