Reporter accepts impairing challenge

By Christy Marsters

The Hants Journal

NovaNewsNow.com

In a last-minute decision the morning of June 1, I thought it might be best to walk over to the Hants County Community Access Network (CAN) in case I couldn’t drive.

I had to head over to the Hants County CAN for 8:30 a.m. to pick up my impairment.

Access Awareness Week was May 31 to June 6 and Hants County CAN challenged the community to simulate living with either a visual, mobile or hearing impairment for at least four hours. I had to try.

When I arrived, I had no idea the nature of the impairment, but I was quite certain each of the three options would contain unique obstacles and provide challenges.

Yet there was little I actually knew right then about the extent of the challenge before me. I put on a pair of safety goggles, which were covered completely in aluminum tape, and instantly I ‘saw’ the world in an entirely different way.

Technically I couldn’t see anything. When I put on these space-age shades all that remained was a wall of blackness and a reflection of my eyes when bright lights crept through in sporadic seconds. However, what I did see quite clearly was it would impossible to drive or even to walk alone and find a way safely to work.

I staggered to my desk

Jason Harvey was kind enough to let me grab onto the back of his wheelchair and he guided me to The Hants Journal. I staggered to my desk, reaching out for familiar things to feel my way there, and sat down with intentions to do some work.

However, I noticed I couldn’t even see the computer screen to get to a Word document. How was I going to write the Hants History if I couldn’t even see what I was writing?

I called my mother, again feeling for the buttons on the phone and going by memory, to see if she would come down and help me out, but she was working. Thanks, mom!

So I called my grandmother to see if she could come down. I didn’t like having to ask for help, being a pretty independent person, but was glad grandma agreed to be at the office for 11 a.m. Then I wondered what I’d do to kill about two hours.

It was a very long, lonesome and life-changing couple of hours. I am a visual person and I hated not being able to see colours. I am a very scheduled person and I hated not knowing the time. I am also a fairly nosy person and I didn’t like hearing all the people coming into the office and not being able to see who they were or know exactly what they were doing.

I started listening in. “I’m sorry,” a woman’s voice said to the receptionist. “I was just looking at the girl back there with the glasses.”

For some reason I also didn’t like the idea of people looking at me because I couldn’t return the favour and identify an expression or a face.

I started to appreciate my vision much more with each passing minute….

My purse was missing

Once my grandma arrived, I began feeling better because it was nice to know there was someone I knew to talk to who could help me around. Then, as I was about to head out to lunch with her, it was brought to my attention my purse was missing from the office.

Talk about combining two scary things (not being able to see and not being able to find my purse), but I should’ve expected it. I’d lose my head if it weren’t attached.

Thinking back, I knew it was likely I had left my purse at the Hants County CAN, and I was relieved when grandma drove me there to pick it up and it was there. It’s nice to know I can trust others if I have to and know most people in this area wouldn’t steal my purse.

Grandma and I spent the rest of the noon-hour eating at McDonald’s, where I’m proud to say I ran into only one sign, and then I went back to The Hants Journal to have her help me write up the Hants History.

Now, I have to confess I peeked here to bring up a Word document because trying to explain the computer to grandma is a challenge I could not handle on top of being blind.

But once I was situated it was pretty easy to type while she read me the Hants History (and I got it done with many words right.) ‘Challenge’ an understatement

Once I finished it was roughly 1 p.m. and I had been blind for just over four hours. I decided I would take the glasses off and I’ll admit the word ‘challenge’ is an understatement to describe how difficult the morning had been.

I think the average person can find it difficult to rely on others or ask for help, but it’s not something to be ashamed of. I think sometimes it’s easier for people to lose faith in others, but more often others want to help you and can better guide you through life.

Plus, I think it’s too easy for us to focus on all the things we don’t have in life and to forget the things we do. I think it would benefit society to see things as I did June 1 -- to see the world through aluminum foil glasses. I’m sure things would seem a bit rosier.

It’s easy to forget the things you have. It much harder to lose the things you don’t appreciate.