[nagdu] Walking beside Highways WAS RE: Amount of walking

[Jewel S.]

I don't know how much my input counts on this, as I didn't do it with
a guide dog, but I lived in Spring Lake, NC for about 8 months, two
months of which I was totally on my own with no transportation other
than my feet and the few friends who had a little time to spare.

I moved there because it was a nice neighborhood that my (now ex)
husband liked, and I wanted to get the apartment ready for his return
from Iraq in a quiet area where he could relax when he was at home and
recoop from deployment. At the time, I had been blind only 3 months. I
guess ignorance truly is bliss...

Where I lived, the apartments were on a little side street off the
highway. In order to get anywhere beyond the trash dumpster and
mailbox, you had to walk on the side of the highway. I made so many
trips on the side of that highway, walking in the grass where I could,
walking the line between the grass and road where the grass was not
wide enough. If I had to, I walked on the side of the ditch (which led
to me falling flat on my back once). This was the only way for me to
get down to the neighbourhood store for groceries. It was not a long
walk (it took only 5 minutes by car), but it seemed like forever to me
as I couldn't see the store, couldn't tell how far I had gone, and no
formal O&M training (and I mean -none-...I had read the Care and
Feeding of the Long White Cane, and that was all the training I had).
I got lost at least once a week going to the trash dumpster that was
at the corner of my street and the other neighborhood street, once
ending up behind the apartment buildings, where I turned round and
round in circles, sobbing with frustration...luckily, this was after
my ex got back, and when I didn't return after 10 minutes, he started
calling out for me, and I found him by his voice).

I never really thought about the dangers of walking on the side of the
highway. Lots of people in the area did it; at one point, ther was a
worn path in the dirt through the grass about three feet from the
highway. I even crossed the highway, after reading the part in Care
and Feeding that talks about how to listen for cars...it would take me
about 10 to 15 minutes before I decided it was safe to cross, as the
highway was quite busy, but once I determined it was safe, I booked it
across. I stuck out my cane in front of me and ran across. As soon as
my cane touched grass, I would stop dead in my tracks, because right
past that was a ditch.

There was one day after I had started venturing out that a car was
following me. I knew it was following me, and I kept stopping and
listening, concerned. Finally, I heard a police radio and walked over
to the car. "Can I help you, Officer?" I asked. He told me "Someone
called me because they were worried about you walking on the side of
the highway, but I followed you all the way from the store-" I
interjected, "I knew someone was following me..." and he continued,
"And I saw you walking, you do just fine on your own. If anyone else
calls in about a pretty blind girl, I'll let them know she's doing
just fine and not to worry. You call me if you need help, though, all
right?" And I nodded, smiled, and walked over to my door and waved and
went in.  I wasn't sure how much of a compliment "pretty blind girl"
was, but ah well, he saw I was competent, and that's all I needed.

Anyway, that was my experience in Spring Lake. There was no bus, and I
had no money for taxis even if I knew how to look up who to call. A
few friends came and checked on me once a week, but that was all. I
walked down to the leasing office once a month to pay the bill and at
Thanksgiving, one of the workers at the office brought me a nice
Thanksgiving plate.

Here in Raleigh, there are sidewalks everywhere. However, there is a
small stretch down Marcom Street that has no sidewalks, and down
Octavia to go to  a friend, as well as small patches here and there.
But I stay to the side and go against the curb when I hear a car
coming, with my cane visible. It is not that hard after walking down
the side of the highway!

~Jewel

On 3/19/10, Tamara Smith-Kinney <tamara.8024 at comcast.net> wrote:
> Tracy,
>
> You're right!  Walking down the side of a highway is much too dangerous.  As
> is walking in the parts of town where there aren't sidewalks and traffic
> lights and all those urban safety features!
>
> My curent Interstection of Death and Destruction is, in fact, the old rural
> highway turned main thoroughfare by the amount of traffic but not by
> improvement.  They're starting to work on it to widen it, thank heavens.
> For now, if I want to go to the park, I need to cross that stinking road
> without benefit of a traffic light.  Every time I do, I feel like I'm taking
> my life in my hands!  And Mitzi's, too, which really gives me fits.  One
> reason I've gotten to know my little buddy and my medium buddy so well is
> that they need an adult to go to the park with them, and my chances of
> living to get there are better with some functioning eyeballs around.
> Anyway, most people cross the street in teams.  For me, because of the
> geography there, the sounds are much too confusing for me too judge traffic
> safely.  I sort of wait until the cars on both sides stop, and I can't
> always tell if it's cloudy and there is wind blowing.
>
> My other alternative is to walk along the side of the highway to a stop
> light....  Which puts us at risk for longer than just running across the
> road screaming.  Well, I don't actually scream, but I do hoof it across
> pretty fast!  /grin/
>
> A big part of the danger is the way people drive!  Because you're on the
> side of the road with no curb to the sidewalk between you and them, you're
> too vulnerable for every fool behind the wheel of a car who passes you by.
> People routine use the bike lane as a passing lane, and if you happen to be
> in the bike lane when they do...  And yes, pedestrians have died on that
> road for that very reason!  There was a hit and run just a few weeks ago
> between here and the corner store.
>
> So I have learned to be dependent on the driver of the household again, even
> though it makes me crazy.  I can take the bus that stops at that
> intersection to more civilized climes without having to cross the road at
> all, but then to come home safely I would have to ride for an hour so that I
> could get back to the stop on our side of the street.  Better than no bus at
> all, but I have to want to go somewhere pretty bad to use it.  /smile/
> Also, if I, say, use the bus to take a hop down to the bank, then I face the
> same safety issues getting from the bus stop to the bank...  So I arrange to
> go with the driver.
>
> At least he's really great about making himself available so that I can get
> my errands done, and we usually combine our errands to get them done all in
> one fell swoop.  Still, I don't like feeling dependent, and I'm one of those
> people who would rather do it myself than take time out of someone else's
> busy life just because I'm afraid to walk a mile down the road...
>
> And, yes, I feel very, very isolated and dependent, and I do not like it at
> all.  I focus on the good things about my current living situation, which
> have turned out to be many.  But I still throw fits about that stinking road
> on a daily basis just to get it out of my system.  /grin/
>
> Don't know if that helps or is what you were looking for, but that's us in
> the rural life.  I would rather live in a more urban neighborhood, and I
> adored the one I was in before I moved out here with Daisy and her dad.
> Just couldn't afford it!
>
> If I lived way out, where there wasn't even a bus to the Big City, I would
> go insane!  With my parents aging and their health failing, I do
> occasionally evaluate the possibility of moving back there, and DD is great
> about bringing it up as an option, especially once he is more fully retired.
> The town is small enough that I could pretty much walk everywhere, although
> the paratransit is -- or was last I heard -- overbooked and not always fully
> staffed.  We will not talk about the cab!  But living there with no way to
> get to anywhere that civilization exists is something I just cannot face.
> DD agrees that if we were to decide to do that, he would go nuts as surely
> as I would.  Still, he can drive to places, so we wouldn't be stuck.
>
> Oops.  Blathering.  That's my take on living in my current semi-rural place
> just off the highway and what I learned living in the totally rural parts of
> the state.
>
> Give me the city!
>
> Tami Smith-Kinney
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Tracy Carcione
> Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2010 6:50 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Amount of walking
>
> I'd like to bring this back to the original topic, if I may.  It really
> interests me.  I was hoping to hear from some of the people who don't walk
> miles and miles.  I think there are folks on this list who don't have the
> physical ability to do it, for one.  Are there others who live in what I
> call the land of the car, where walking is difficult because there aren't
> any sidewalks?  I don't mind walking along a fairly quiet road with no
> sidewalks, but the thought of walking along the side of a highway scares
> me.  Maybe it's not as bad as I think?
> If a person is one who gets a ride to work and back, does the incidental
> walking get the dog enough exercise?  Like, going to lunch, running
> errands, etc?  Or do all those errands have to be done with a car, too?
> I know other people live in a different world than I do, and I'm curious
> about it.  I live in a fairly urban, just outside the Big City.  My
> husband and I chose our house partly because it is close to several bus
> routes, and is within walking distance of a grocery, several restaurants,
> and one of our town's business districts with some good shops.  Some
> places we need have closed, because our neighbors would rather drive a few
> miles to get something cheaper.  There are a lot less grocery stores in
> our town than there used to be, for instance.
>
> What with the bad weather and all, it was nearly a week that I didn't
> really get out and walk much.  Even going in to the City for work, we took
> a taxi because we had Echo with us, plus the stuff we needed to stay
> overnight.  So Ben only walked a few blocks at a time.  But it seemed
> enough to keep him happy, I suppose because of the novelty of going new
> places and staying some place different.
>
> I particularly asked TSE for a dog who would be happy to walk 2 or 3 miles
> one day, and a few blocks the next.  They got it right, giving me Ben.  In
> fact, I don't think he wants to walk a lot every day.  Once in a while is
> interesting and fun, but he wants his rest, too.
>
> A friend of mine is worried that the schools will be breeding lots of dogs
> who don't want to work too much, the sort who could be happy with a pretty
> sedentary lifestyle.  But they still seem to have a wide variety; her
> young shepherd needs 3 or 4 miles a day to be happy.
>
> One last thing I want to say in this rambly email.  My folks old place is
> really nice, location-wise.  It's about 5 miles out of town, so it's real
> quiet.  No neighbors on top of you all the time.  But those 5 miles are
> along a highway, and even after you hit the edge of town, there are at
> least a couple more miles to go before you hit the shopping district.
> When I'm there, I feel pretty isolated.  I feel like I'm totally dependent
> on someone with a car to get out and go to town, or even take a walk.  Is
> that the reality, or do you folks who live in the land of the car have
> ways to get out on your own?
>
> The urban life is good because it's easy to get around, but it's annoying
> because the neighbors are all right on top of us. We wouldn't mind looking
> into alternatives, but we have to be able to do the things we want and
> need to do.
> Tracy
>
>
>
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