On Saturday, I pretty much began as soon as I woke up. I reached for the blindfold, and into the dark I went.
- Walking around: This is kind of scary at first. I kept thinking I was going to run into something, trip, die – something like that.
- Using the restroom: And then I immediately found the first hitch in the ol’ plan, namely, that I didn’t have a plan for this. Fine, I’ll just sit down, I thought. No one has to know (except the millions who read this blog religiously).
- Brushing my teeth: It’s harder than I thought to hit the toothbrush with the toothpaste, and if there’s more than one toothbrush, it’s kind of tough to tell which to use.
- Taking a shower: This wasn’t bad. I decided to just close my eyes the whole time. Thankfully, I didn’t slip and fall.
- Getting dressed: Another one that wasn’t so bad. It’s not like I need to see anything to get dressed. Choosing what to wear is a bit of a challenge. I ended up wearing a white shirt when I thought it was blue. If I did this too long, I’d have to make sure everything I own matches.
- Taking photos: As I walked around and tried things, I took pictures to keep track. I ended up finding out a lot from these photos afterward, things I would have missed otherwise.
- Cooking something to eat: I planned to cook something up, but that quickly proved to be, well, more than this blind man could handle. Measurements are too difficult, burns are scary, and it’s just plain hard to pour into the right containers and pans, to say nothing of my failed attempt at even starting up the microwave oven.
- Preparing something to eat: So a sandwich of some kind was in order. And that’s where the photos come in. The honey slopped out in one nice ball in the middle of the otherwise blank slice of bread. The peanut butter, on the other hand, landed quite literally on the other hand. My nose worked well to detect the ingredients, to make sure I wasn’t about make my peanut butter and honey sandwich out of ketchup and mayonnaise.
- Doing dishes: I worried that perhaps I’d clean something, but not all the way, and then put it back into the cabinet like that. I took the risk anyway.
- Playing instruments: I played guitar first. Funny how tough it can be to find positions without looking. I played some drums too. That wasn’t so bad.
- Playing chess: I like chess, but I got killed (for what it’s worth, Ted usually beats me anyway). I’m not good enough to know exactly where pieces sit just from memory. I need to work on my chess notation.
- Watching TV: I’m not normally a TV guy, but since I couldn’t read or get online, I figured I’d try the TV. Turning it on proved to be a challenge, even with a fairly well-known remote. Watching, actually just listening, wasn’t as bad as I thought.
I definitely had to make some adjustments. I’m pretty sure I’d die on my own (unless I got out and started calling for help). Thankfully, though, I made it through six hours without sight and learned a lot along the way.
