Dialog in the dark
Stumbling along, eyes wide open but nothing but pitch black darkness, I strained to use every other sense to try and determine where I was. No sense of direction, assaulted by smells of other bodies, textures and feelings that I have never felt before I just wanted to run, I wanted light, to see, but there was no where to run, I and my friends were trapped deep in the bowels of a maze with no sight!
Although it may sound like it, this is not the beginning of a horror story but rather an immerse learning experience in the world of the blind. Dialog in the dark is a one of a kind exhibit showing in Atlanta, GA along with one of the famous bodies exhibits. I personally found the Bodies exhibit fascinating, but the Dialog in the dark was mind shifting.
There is an old saying not to judge some one until you have walked a mile in there shoes and so is the truth with the blind. The definition of blind may vary. Some may have minimum vision but meet the guidelines for “legally” blind while others may suffer the most debilitating form of blindness and not be able to recognize light. It is into this world I, and a group of 9 others were cast.
As a young man in school I remember being taught what empathy was by having to spend a class in a wheel chair, or with a blind fold on. It was a good demonstration but I don’t think any thing can prepare you for when lights dim and dim until you are immersed in ink black darkness with your eyes wide open! No matter where you look there are no shadows, slivers of light, glows of electronics, it is all gone from your world. Now armed with just your cane you must traverse your way through different terrains and situation with your group.
Our guide a blind person had to clap and ask us to walk, or try, to the sound of her voice to start the simplest navigation. Now I must tell you if you intend to go, do not read any more, just go and enjoy the experience because my relating what happened may ruin it for you.
Our first world found us on uneven terrain. Bubbling stream and singing birds told us we were out door and the slap of our canes on the ground helped us deduce we were on grass, dirt and gravel. Indeed, we were in the park, but there was no beauty to see, only senses to feed. In fact the park had all kind of obstacles that we had to identify and navigate around, such as flower beds, light posts, benches, trash cans, small bridges and other things. I can tell you it is a bit unnerving to grab a rail and starting to walk along it the whole time hoping you are on the right side of the rail.
Our next stop was to shop for groceries. Yes, bananas, acorn squash, green beans, and lettuce are fairly recognizable by their shape. But what about onion types, citrus, potatoes? Smell and other clues become so important to a blind person. It became obvious in the cans and boxes that no fully blind person could shop with out help. Have you ever offered help or just reasoned if a blind person can get around they can handle other tasks on their own.
From the grocery store we wandered into the street, residential on one side and commercial on the other. By this point I was so totally disoriented I was glad that the tour was so short because I don’t think I could handle more than 20 or 30 minutes of this. I wanted to rip off the blind fold, I wanted to open my eyes but in this world there was no cheating. By the time we were done I had totally lost track of time and we had been immersed in the dark for an hour!
There were other parts I will leave to your mind to imagine, but we ended up sitting in a jazz club at a table with our host in complete darkness with music and other normal back round noise we had to tune out so we could ask her questions on how a person can function in that world. The lesson I left with is that when we lose one sense others sharpen and if we pay attention to them we can learn a lot. Perfumes and colognes became the names in the dark as did heights and voices. In those crowded rooms no more was a casual bump of a hand in the dark against a persons rear an assault but it was an honest mistake we all made stumbling around in the dark. For a brief time I had pressed in my hand a small child’s hand who thought he had grabbed his dad. People barked out chirps of names and “here” like a never ending game of Marco Polo as my teenage kids said “dad” and I asked their names more than once.
We all needed reassurance, not out of fear but I think more due to helplessness. Perhaps we could pool our knowledge or senses and stand a better chance against this adversary of blindness. The only thing that topped the entire experience was walking out a series of curtains at the end of the programs toward increasing slivers of light till we were back with our sight. I am glad I had a glimpse into the world of the blind, but I feel sad they will not share now in the beauty of seeing the light as your sight returns when you make your way out of dialog in the dark.
