2003-11-21 - 4:05 p.m.

Eyes

Two nights ago while waiting outside at 6 PM at the bus stop I was talking to another 6 PM bus regular about how hard it is for me to read the bus numbers 5-6 blocks away when it is dark. I went on to explain that in the summer that I can read the bus numbers so much further away and that I found it frustrating how car lights can essentially blind me.

She then pointed out that in summer, daylight, that she can read the bus numbers only 1 block away and at night less than that.

We got to talking about how far we can see things, and she pointed out that she has 20-20 vision, and never had any visions problems, but was amazed at how far I can read things. I told her it isn't just that I can read things from far away, but that I recognize patterns from far away and fill in the gaps.

The truth is my vision probably is better than your average person, but by cheating I can seem like I can read even further. I can't, but that isn't the point. The point is, I can still use information from far away.

The next morning (Thursday morning), while walking to work, I found myself following the blind guy from my bus. I feel a bit guilty for not walking beside him, but instead walking behind him. The reason I did this was because I know he can't see things, and I didn't want the sound of me next to him and talking to him (he is a great guy) to distract him from the road noises. Sure, he'd be safe with me watching out for him, because I am when I'm around him. But I also know that he is one of the most independent people I know.

For example, two years ago when they were talking about changing our bus routes, people were complaining about the extra walking they'd have to do. They went as far as to point out how hard the new routes would be on blind people. He said the point of the bus is to service more people and keep a reliable schedule, not to make life easy for every single passenger. He added that he would find a safe route and work his schedule around that of the bus. And that is exactly what he did. He wasn't mean about it, it just came out as a fact.

While I wouldn't ask this guy to be on my kick ball team, when the end of the world comes, I'll grab him and drag him into my tribe. With his brain around and objective thinking, the Contourites will be able to eat the silly Whinerroonies and Great Boobieloos that come begging when we've got working water and the ability to make fire, and the best they have is a certain knowledge that cable tv no longer works and the pub down the street's taps are empty.

-=-

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