[stylist] NEW THOUGHT PROVOKER #146- Blindness Makes Your other Senses Stronger

[Robert Newman]

Writers, here is my newest THOUGHT PROVOKER.

This TP is about that age old question/stereo typical ignorant/well meaning
thought that if you go blind, your other senses get sharper, stronger. I bet
most of you out there who are blind have experienced this one. And so what
do you say? How do you explain it?

THOUGHT PROVOKER 146
Blindness Makes Your Other Senses Stronger

"Blindness has made your other senses stronger," said my friend. 

"How many times have I heard that one? Let me count the ways." I was out
running errands and had bumped into a friend. She hadn't seen me for a
while; once after I was newly blinded, going through lots of heartache and
adjustment, But not since blindness training. Our conversation had started
out with catching up, then too predictably morphed exclusively into my
blindness. This "blindness and senses" thing had come as I was trying to
change the topic by mentioning I could smell Lilacs.

Back on task, I got moving; had many errands to complete before heading
home. The reunion with my friend had occurred in an open-air courtyard,
nestled in the center of a local shopping mall. Re-entering the roofed
section, still thinking about my friend's opinion that my sense of smell was
keener than the norm, I started giving my cane an extra hard tap. My
immediate goal was a pet store and knowing from past trips, that its door
was recessed, I knew I could locate it if I could get a good echo read on
it. 

"May I help you?" A woman's voice in my path startled me. Then an opening
door to the right brought the sound of birds and puppies.

 "ah, thanks, no." Pointing to the pet store. "I just heard what I'm looking
for."

"Oh --- ah," the woman responded, first in puzzlement, then realization. "I
am always so amazed what you people can hear!"

In the store- "I've heard that some of you can feel color." Says the sales
clerk. I was rubbing the cloth of a cat blanket between thumb and
forefinger; she had come over to answer a few questions I had.

In a different Isle, lifting a package of cat treats to my nose for a quick
smell (knowing how picky my cat Catty is), I jerked it away. Thinking, "OH
MY GOD, get caught, she's going to ask me if you want to taste these?"

Later- "Catty, I'm home. Brought you a present." My cat was a medium size
short-hair tabby and we had a great relationship. Listening for the silvery
tinkle of her collar bell, knowing her movements were so smooth that sound
may not herald her arrival. Since my blindness, Catty had taken to giving me
more physical contact than before. The cutest example is when she will reach
out with a paw to touch me, as though she knew I could not see her and it is
her way of saying, "Here I am." And I heard nothing until the warm length of
her rubbed against my legs. Setting my purchases down on the hall table I
picked her up and stroked her soft coat.

"Okay, down girl. We've got other duties. Tomorrow we have company and we've
got to get this place sparkling."

First was to get the vacuum sweeper going. I had one of those robotic
sweepers, and it did a great job; my nickname for it is Robby. It is a
wheeled, flat disk that is 3.5 inches tall by 13 across and looks like a
ground-hugging flying saucer. With its motorized wheels churning and its
primitive robotic brain processing, it would independently travel around a
room in a random pattern and though it took longer to complete the job, the
key was, it was doing it while you went off and did something else. I pushed
its start button, sending it off to do its job; closing the doors to the
living room to box it in.

Later, I ran across my package from this morning and discovered the blanket
I had bought for Catty. I walked all through the house calling for her;
didn't hear a single TINK of her bell.

IN the living room, Robby was still tracking back and forth doing his thing,
and still no Catty. I started to worry, "Had she gotten out?" Thinking,
"Where were those" near super heightened senses when you need them?"
Standing there, Robby came trundling up and as he went by, I felt a familiar
touch on my bare leg. "Catty!" That darn cat was riding Robby!


President NFB Writers' Division
Robert Leslie Newman
Email- newmanrl at cox.net
Division Website- 
Http://www.nfb-writers-division.org