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

[Wayne Merritt]

Reading this thread reminds me of my drop off route toward the end of
my time at the Colorado Center. I was literally dropped off at the
side of a highway. To this day I don't know exactly where I was, but I
have an idea. Anyway, I do know that it was out in the middle of
nowhere. You don't truly know where the middle of nowhere is until
you've been there, and I was there at the time. Anyway, after the car
drove off I started getting all worried about which way to go and
started getting stressed, until I grinned and chuckled, and thought,
"Well, I can either go that way or that way." And I started walking. I
won't bore you with the details of my return trip, but suffice it to
say that I walked for a long, long time before I came upon a bus stop.
During that long walk, I was walking in a strip of path about the
width of your two feet put together, with the highway on one side and
a ditch on the other, tapping my cane and striding along, trying to
look where I knew where I was going, even though I had no clue. After
walking far enough in one direction, have no idea how far that was, it
occurred to me thaat I should have come across some change. And I did
what Tami and Jewel described, waited for a break in the semingly
endless trafic and when one came, hoofed it across at a near run,
tapping my cane out in front, hoping I wouldn't become a pancake. I
made the crossing okay and then started walking back in the other
direction. That proved to be a good choice since after awhile I came
to that bus stop.

The time I was on the highway, people kept driving past and yelling at
me, "You're on 77th," to which I thought, Great. I even had one woman
continuously come up to me expressing concern of where I was. At the
third time she came up to me, I dispensed with the easy going
explanations and told her more or less, "Look, I really appreciate you
trying to help me here, I really do. But, I'm on an assignment where I
have to get back to the training center I attend all by myself and
without help, and you're not helping me wiht that." She never came up
again, grin.

When in training at the Colorado Center and other similar places, on
these drops, you're told that you can't ask but 1 question. First,
before anyone freaks, remember that the drop doesn't happen till the
end of your training. Also, that the point is to build your self
confidence and self reliance when traveling. Technically will they
know if they drop you off and you ask questions the whole way? Of
course not. You're not wired and there's not a spy car, at least not
for those that are totally blind. The partials do have a spy car to
some extent since they want to see if you'll take the blindfold off,
but that's it. I stuck to the 1 question plan because I wouldn't feel
right about breaking it. And besides, at the end of your training,
you've traveled in all sorts of conditions and situations. I learned
later that they're not going to drop you off anywhere that you can't
handle; in other words, they'll match the drop with your expected
experience level. Guess that says a lot for what I thought I could
handle being dropped off on a highway. I heard of one person who was
dropped in the parking lot for the football stadium. that would be
frustrating, rows and rows of cars with no end in sight, but they made
it back, eventually. It took me 3 hours to get back. I would have made
it sooner, but I spent at least an hour of that time waiting for
busses. So when the first bus came, I got on and said, "I want to go
to Broadway." To which the driver said that he was going that
direction and have a seat. Broadway is one of the center streets in
Denver. I knew once I got to Broadway, it was going to be a snap from
there, and it was. No greater feeling exists than the feeling I had
when I walked back into the Centter when I got back. I'm sure I was
smiling from ear to ear with the knowledge of what I had done.

I learned 2 things from that experience: in order to safely get back
to the starting point, you not only have to know where you are, but
how to get back in the first place. And in answer to the unspoken
question that you may have, I burned my only question early on. It was
one of the times that people called out to me when driving past, and I
said something like, "Which way?" Then realized what I had said, and
cursed to myself. But I made it back without asking anything else. It
was a great experience and one I'd recommend to anyone that has the
chance to go through it as well. From what I understand, some guide
dog schools do this, upon request by the user, with people in
training, though as more of a test if you and the dog can get back
safely together. That would be a good test as well, but after only a
few weeks rather than 6-9 months of training, which might make a
difference, and then again, it might not. Still, that would probably
be a good experience too.

Sorry for not going into too much detail, :)
Wayne

On 3/19/10, Jewel S. <herekittykat2 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 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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