Notions(A glimpse)

Yesterday...

"Good morning", my first reaction was, "Aah, this one someone is greeting me. It's not even as if I was looking 'peng'. I replied without glancing back, I was hastening my steps cos I was already running late to school.

"Can you take me to Pol Science?" It was at this time that I turned back to look at the person extending greetings.

I've never accompained anyone before, noone had ever told me to aid them, neither have I offered to. It was a first for me and I was hoping that I don't mess this up.

After a few steps, the girl asked me the colour of her outfit. I tried to be descriptive cos really, I didn't exactly know the colours so I went all, "very light purple top" and "light grey/ash skirt"

"Is it a good combination?" She asked me again.

"Ehe naa", I replied. I went on, "It's a fitted top, it's not as if it's a big top. แปŒ dแป‹ mma, it looks good on you"

She was going to the General office in the department. I wanted to strike a conversation but I didn't know what to ask, how to ask it and in short, I'm not particularly someone that strikes up a conversation. So I just struck with giving directions. We were walking slowly, much slower than the normal me would.

"Raise your leg up", pulling her to a side of the road that does not have obstacles. We got to these pillar-like stuffs on the road. I didn't know how to tell her to raise her leg to it and I blurted out, "that white and black thing". God, I was mortified. Cos it occurred to me that she probably doesn't know what I was referring to, neither was I being helpful by mentioning colours.

We finally reached our destination and it was nice to realise the generous nature of the non-staff there. I mean, usually the non-teaching staff are not particularly nice. Probably it is because it's her. They were fussing over her, asking of the person she came to visit, and even asking other people if they had seen the exam officer. 

After a while, I just suggested that she collect the man's phonenumber and call to know when in particular he would be around. So that her net visit would not be futile and she did just that.

I was wondering, how does she cope? Earlier morning, I I tried to walk in the passage with no light, and I was seeing total nothing. It was dizzy to me, the dark was just swirling in my face and It was as if I was pushing through it. 

How would she dial the number, because the phone is a 'Nokia torch'. She asked me of the spelling though, but I'm still curious, the phone is not automated to use voice to identify the numbers.

***
On supposed normal humans: we can stare like mad. After reading a post on tips to be around a blind person last year, I stopped with the staring cos it makes the person accompaning them uncomfortable. 

Human beings just dey looku looku too much. You'd think something was wrong with the cloth you're putting on, or that charcoal was plastered on your face. Like Oga/Madam, face your front, we are not in an amusement park!

Then, there's the situation of undue apologies to them. 
We were on our way back to the hostel and passed this group of girls. They all shouted sorry, one after the other: I felt the distress rolling off her at the time. 


Why are you saying sorry?
She's only visually impaired not handicapped.
And she isn't sick either.
The sorry you're telling her reminds her of her disability and that she is not the ideal "normal"
They don't want your pity, it's not going to change anything....
***
My hostel has a number of blind people. They fetch their water themselves and they carry It up to their rooms themselves. 

Sometimes, I'm tempted to lend a hand but I know they wouldn't want that. My assumptions though.

A couple of weeks ago, one of them had come down to the tap to fetch. They have a tap designated for their use. At the time she came, other people were already fetching and she wanted to. It escalated to arugement cos the girls fetching refused to make way for her.

The blind girl flared up into shouts of her own and said something along the lines of, "Ehe, this is a special tap for the blind people, Are you blind?' This made people erupt into laughter.

In my thinking, I was seeing the statement on 2 sides, I 
'Are you blind?' as in, a blind person to use the tap
Or 'Are you blind?' that you can't see that it's blind people's tap.
***
Back to yesterday, I finally got to striking a conversation with her. She had come to check her results for retification because her name did not come out in the released convocation list and since the man was not around, I offered to take her back to the hostel.


We had gone for awhile and she wanted to get back to the department to greet a lecturer. I was running late to class, but lending a helping hand comes first godu. The person we were looking for was not also around.

She expressed relief that the new exam officer was the person in charge now. That the previous one never spared any moment for anybody. At times, she would stand for waiting for him but no show. I finally took her back and bade her farewell before departing for my classes.

***
I don't want to ask once again, "how they cope", "how they fare"
It just leaves me to be appreciative of the little things we take for granted, like these senses and a little glimpse into their world. It was a different experience for me and I just felt I should share.

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