I spent most of yesterday afternoon trying to be assertive, not aggressive. Fighting the good fight for my rights. Do you ever just get sick and tired of holding people accountable? Why can’t people do things right? Or at least do what they say they will do?
My CCTV that was in the shop for the second time in a month was supposed to have a 24-hour turnaround time. They received it Monday and sent it Friday…after I called and complained.
Then there was some sort of snafu, and I did not get picked up to come home after exercise class Thursday. There is no after hours, emergency number for the transit company. Our home phone was out-of-order, and for a while, I was up the creek without a paddle.
I was on the phone with the county commissioner Friday. Since I am seen by the transit company as not having any power, I borrowed some power from the county. Should get the job done.
All of which is almost enough hassle to make me just “forget” I am visibly impaired and go back to normal life. Like driving myself for example.
It is ALMOST enough. Why? Because if I were to injure or kill anyone when driving, a lot more people than me would be inconvenienced.
Lin said several of the Facebook group members are driving. She urged people to take a good look at their vision – and I would say also a good look at their consciences – and decide whether they should actually be driving. Lin suggested a little “self-test “ she thought up. [Lin/Linda: details on that below.]
I have a few additions to that. These are some questions I thought of when on the “short bus” and then later walking the puppygirls.
Do you actually know what you are looking at? Because I don’t! Many times I can see there is something there, but I have no clue what it is. Suppose it is a mailbox, but I think it is a child standing on the curb. Do I stop and try to let the mailbox cross? (New old joke: why did the mailbox cross the road? Uh….sorry.) How about the other way around? What if that “mailbox” suddenly darts in front of me? Am I prepared? Probably not. I was thinking “mailbox” not “child.”
Can you see things that are not moving? Several times I have not seen flagmen. They were just standing there in my blind spot. Movement catches my eye, but stillness does not.
This week the creek and the river decided to get “up close and personal” in several neighborhoods. (Just missed a serious flood, and thanks for asking). There are signs all over the place. I have to be right on top of them to read them. It takes me a few seconds to actually decipher what it says. And that is walking! If I were driving the speed limit, I could either come to a dead stop and actually read the sign…or drive into the river.
The moral of that last question was this: the familiar changes. Anticipating what was does not always prepare us for what is.
And those are my questions for those who are driving visually impaired. Me? I will continue to fight the good fight with the (fill in the blank) transit company. Being on the side of the angels is preferable to becoming one.
Written July 27th, 2018
Lin/Linda: my self-test:
- While parked, focus on something in front of you. Close one eye. Is everything still there in your visual field? Close the other eye. All OK?
- While parked, turn to the left & focus on something in your visual field. Close one eye. All OK? Close the other eye. All OK?
- While parked, turn to the right & focus on something in your visual field. Close one eye. All OK? Close the other eye. All OK?
- Can you see the controls on your dash? With lessened contract sensitivity, many of you cannot.
- Also, can you tell when a traffic light changes colors? My Dad who had geographic atrophy could not. He took my mother with him so she could tell him. However, she developed Alzheimer’s and eventually could not do that. He continued to drive. I was 700 miles away or I would have stopped it. He said,”I only drive locally.” Locally was on roads where there were narrow roads with people walking and on bikes. I KNOW he could not see many of them.
- Can you see the lines on the road?