[Blindtlk] trailing with your hand or with your cane

[Jim]

Bob, you are absolutely right in that sighted people notice the slightest
things we do, especially when we're walking and using our canes.  They don't
understand that sometimes, we have to go out of our way to feel for a
sidewalk  or shoreline an edge or do as you did and put one foot on the
street while another was on the driveway.  
The question sometimes arises, "How do I not stand out and how do I show
confidence when walking with a cane?"  
Good question.
I think that the fact that we simply have a cane will make us stand out
already.  


-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Robert J Smith
Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2011 8:27 AM
To: BLINDTLK at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Blindtlk] trailing with your hand or with your cane

Hi all.  My belief is that if you move your hand along a wall at your side
versus sliding your cane tip along a wall, it makes no difference.  They
both will be noticed whether we like it or not.  I believe that people will
notice anything we do that they don't do and that one thing is no more
likely to get noticed than another.  You might keep in mind that if you walk
fast and trail, you run somewhat of a risk of banging your arm into
something that would be sticking out.

One example of being noticed no matter what, happened to me very recently. 
 I was walking to my bus stop.  On the way to the stop there are numerous
driveways with a very slight drop-off to the street at the bottom of their
slopes.  I check the drop-offs with one foot and my cane to make certain
where the intersecting street is so I can turn left off the street I'm
walking along and go west one street where the bus stop is.  On this
particular day, I had found the intersecting street, crossed the street I
was walking along and headed west to the bus stop.  About two or three
minutes later, a man and woman came along.  She asked me if I was alright
because she said that she had seen me almost trip.  I was so surprised that
I didn't know what she meant at first.  I told her that I was fine, just
waiting for a bus.  As I thought about it after she left, I realized that
she had probably seen me dip down as I went across the slopes of a couple
driveways, as well as putting my foot out to test for the slight drop-off
and then bring it back again.  I was nowhere near tripping though, hadn't
even been anywhere close to pitching forward, just checking things out.  I'd
rather risk looking a little conspicuous though than die, as the street I
turn down to go to the bus stop is very busy with no light.  So, in summary,
try to be as inconspicuous as possible and when you honestly can't that's
the way things go and so be it.

Bob Smith
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