On a recent trip I had a rather displeasurable experience related to my vision while checking into a hotel. My husband was wandering the halls, getting the lay of the land. When it came to the point of the process where I needed to place my credit card in the machine, I recited my usual statement in situations like this, “I’ll need your help please. I’m visually impaired.” The reaction always varies whenever or wherever I disclose my sight status, mostly it’s surprise or fluster. This time I was met with silence and no movement. The front desk gentleman did not come around to my side of the counter to assist me. Finally he reached across, taking my card and putting it in the slot, then directed, “Hit the green button.”
“I can’t see the green button.”
Reaching for the unit, he pressed it twice before returning it to its place on the ledge. “Just keep hitting the green button,” he said.
I just looked at him. Mister Rain had come up next to me and I turned my head to to him. “I’m supposed to push the green button, even though I can’t see it.” I stepped aside, indicating that he should take over.
A few short minutes later, the hotel associate prepared our keys.I knew what was coming. As he began to hand them to my husband, I extended my arm with military precision. He had no intention of giving those key cards to me. As a matter of fact, he didn’t address me for the remainder of the transaction.
I am a capable person who has been checking into hotels since long before this man was born. “Just because I can’t see you, doesn’t mean I am invisible.” I said it calmly, in a soft voice, thanking him while reaching for the handle of my suitcase. I felt his eyes, as well as my husband’s, on me.
As soon as the elevator doors closed, Mister Rain could not longer contain himself. “I guess you told him.”
Yeah, I did. But I should not have had to.
#SisterRain #ALittleSightALotOfHeart #LegallyBlindWriter #Blind #BlindnessIsASpectrum #LegallyBlind #LowVision #VisuallyImpaired #OpticNeuropathy #VisionLoss
