[nfb-talk] New THOUGHT PROVOKER 115- Why Dark Glasses?

[Kathleen A. Millhoff]

We all have our particular game face - inner and outer; routines and mantras
which which we're familiar, particular adaptations with which we would never
leave home.
Civilization, it might be argued, relies upon such entrenched modes of doing
things for its ability to grow and flourish (albeit, stutter-stepping at
times).  That is, once life settled down to routine, humanity was free to
turn to more inward-seeking efforts: fashion, demeanor, style, presentation.
Publicists have been making money on this throughout recorded history.
I recently had occasion to read a teen magazine and learned, to my surprise,
how often sunglasses appear in the wardrobe descriptions of pop and movie
people.  But blind people were wearing sunglasses long before the current
fad.  Was it to hide eye deformity or blindness?  Was it to fit in with a
pre-conveived idea of glamor?  Was it to help with self-image or imagined
self-image?  I think we've pretty much begun to realize how much of that
self-image is actually a reflection of others' perceptions of us.  (*"AM IT
A ROCK STAR OR AM I A POLITICIAN?")
And, would anyone care if the lines of demarkation between the two became
smudged and blurred.
We blind people are just as susceptible to whims and fancies as the rest of
the population. And, sadly, we probably just as subject to self-dilusion.
Whatever we don each day then, new shoes, shades, tripple earrings, brand or
tattoo - my hope is that we go out the door confident in the inner creation
as much as the outer, ultimately knowing we're going to handle our day with
as much grace as possible whether we have our shades with us or not.
By the way, anyone know how many people hide in public behind the written
word - newspaper, magazine, menu, etc.?
best,
kat

-----Original Message-----
From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org]On
Behalf Of Robert Leslie Newman
Sent: Monday, November 20, 2006 12:48 PM
To: nfbtalk
Subject: [nfb-talk] New THOUGHT PROVOKER 115- Why Dark Glasses?


NFBtalk listers
RE:  Why Dark Glasses

Wearing dark glasses is the issue for TP115.  Why do some of us choose to
wear them and why do some of us choose not too?  If you have not read the
PROVOKER, it follows.  Recall that I collect responses and post them upon my
web site for all the WWW to read and learn from and that URL is-
Http://thoughtprovoker.info  If you wish to receive THOUGHT PROVOKERS sent
directly to you, just write me and ask, at-  newmanrl at cox.net

THOUGHT PROVOKER 115
Why Dark Glasses

"Cutting
it
close!" Robert voiced into the early morning darkness in cadence
with the TAP, TAP, TAP, of his long white cane blurring through its arch.
He was on his way to work, running to catch a bus, thinking he'd probably
arrive at the stop at about the same time as the bus itself.

On the bus, "Oh my God!"  Robert said aloud, then to himself, "No glasses!"
He'd just settled into his seat, reached up with a finger to wipe away a
wind-caused tear and found he had forgotten his new designer sunglasses at
home.

"What's that?" asked Robert's seatmate, turning to look at him in concern.

"Oh
I forgot my lunch on the kitchen table," Robert replied and couldn't
believe he had just said that.  However, as self-conscious as he might feel
about this "no glasses thing," He now knew he wasn't going to let it ruin
his day and certainly wasn't going to point it out to anyone.

Walking down the street to the building in which he worked, Robert found
himself falling into an old habit of consciously holding his left eye closed
as
he met pedestrians moving in the opposite direction.  His right eye looked
normal, but the left one had shrunken over the years, becoming milky-white
in
color and the eyelid was always about half closed.  He had become very
self-conscious about it and found it got noticed less if the eye was not
visible.  More precisely, Robert had developed the opinion that to offset
some of the negative reaction by the sighted public to his blindness, that
among other things he had to make the best of his physical presentation and
manner.  And so he kept himself in good physical shape with regular exercise
and reasonable diet and kept up with the changing fashions.  To his friends
he was known to say, "You can tease me about being vain, but don't mess up
my hair, scuff the shine on my shoes or smudge my glasses."

"Howdy Sue," Robert said entering his place of work, waiting to see if the
receptionist noticed.

"Morning.  Kind of cool out there," she replied looking up, then going back
to setting up her workstation.

Walking into the break room Robert said, "Hi you guys," to the group of his
colleagues who also liked starting off their day with a cup of java and a
short catching-up conversation.

"So ah, Robert, how was your evening?" asked Kathy, peering up into his
face.

"Okay." Robert answered; sure he was going to get an additional question or
comment with the tone he swore he heard in his friend's voice.  But she
didn't continue and so he relayed only the facts relevant to her question.

Arriving home at the end of the day Robert's wife opened the door before he
had a chance to use his key, "Hi honey, saw you coming."

"Hi.  Oh, take a good look at me, see anything different?"

"Well, no.  What's up?"

"No glasses.  I forgot them and nobody mentioned a thing.  I really think
they didn't notice."

"Then why do you wear them?"

With just a hesitation, Robert answered, "Well the simple answer for me
would be looks, but it's more complex than that.  Just as I would imagine
other blind people would have their own unique reasons for wearing dark
glasses."



Robert Leslie Newman
E-Mail- newmanrl at cox.net
Web Site- thoughtprovoker.info