I’ve noticed how common it is that, when talking critically about poor behaviour towards disabled people and other groups that face discrimination - from rudeness, patronising attitudes to overt discrimination - the criticism is often brushed off with the explanation that the person hadn’t meant anything by it. “they didn’t mean anything by it”. It’s a funny thing to assert, how does anyone know that someone else who has, to all intents and purposes behaved badly to me or someone else, didn’t mean anything by their words or behaviour. Were they perhaps merely an innocent conduit of unthinking channelling of society’s negativity towards disabled people? Is it that the negative attitudes are so ingrained, that people should not be blamed for innocently adopting them? I find it particularly strange that this excuse is used to cover such a wide range of utterances or behaviours – they can’t all mean nothing, can they? ...
I loved this one – it has happened almost word for word so many times, but this is probably the longest anyone’s gone without interruption. . One bus stop episode Me: “Excuse me, would you tell me when you see the 48 or 49 coming please?” Them: “Do you know where you’re going?” Me: “Yes, I need the 48 or 49” Them: “Where are you going? Me: “Easton” Them: “Now, you need the 48 or 49. You stay there and I’ll tell you when I see it... Are you going to be alright?... Stay there, it’s not coming yet... It’s alright, don’t panic, I’m not going anywhere... Don’t worry, I’ll tell you when it comes….. Oh, my bus is here now… you’ll have to ask someone else.. I’ll tell this lady..Excuse me, this blind man doesn’t know where he’s going, he needs a 48 or 49, could you look after him, make sure the...
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 pr...
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