Welcome to another blog from Ash! Ash works for Vision Support as the Cheshire Sight Loss Line Advisor and he has plenty of stories about his sight loss and how he’s been navigating it for the last 4 years. Read on for Ash’s latest blog.
Monday morning – how do they come round so fast?! Now for most of us, on Mondays it’s hard to get motivated and ready to get back to work…don’t get me wrong, I love my job I just wish getting there could be easier. Oh yes…I better explain, I’m servery sight impaired (SSI), so getting around isn’t as easy as it used to be for me.
I lost my sight 2019 and am still getting used to it, so are my family – I’m sure they try to kill me at least once a week leaving things in my way, also having two dogs that just blend into the floor in our house doesn’t help…YELP! “dad’s stood on the dogs again!”
So the bus leaves Northwich at 7.15am, and to be fair its usually quite regular, I’ve only missed it a couple of times and its broken down a few times as well, which is quite daunting being asked to get off a bus in the middle of nowhere while you wait for it to be fixed or a replacement sent out – I always offer to help fix it but the driver didn’t seem too keen…
I use a white stick, so I only ever really have one hand spare to find my way onto the bus – hopefully the driver has stopped near enough to the kerb so I don’t fall down the gap! Luckily, I have a bus pass so I don’t need to find the right money (which is another minefield as the last time I paid someone had given me an old pound coin that they must have had for ages and thought “I can get rid of this because he won’t know”!). Also, I take a gamble every time I pay by card when I’m by myself because I don’t know what amount is on the card reader – “just check the amount and tap” easy for you to say…as my account is slowly emptied!
So now I’m on the bus and have to find a seat near the front so I don’t fall over anyone making my way down the bus. I sit down, fold my stick away and relax, well for a bit until we get to the next stop and more people get on the bus – an older lady with a trolly and a man with a crutch, and as I have been told a few times, especially when my stick is away “YOU DON’T LOOK BLIND”, and I can feel the look and the pause by my seat and can almost hear them thinking “why is he in that seat, there’s nothing wrong with him”!
Fortunately, I get off at the last stop so don’t need to ask for help on this particular journey, then again you run the gauntlet of the driver forgetting you need to get off – why is it always miles to the next stop and then walking back with no paths, no signal and no data to help me get to the place I need to be?!
And all this before I get to the office…happy Monday everyone!
