Over the past year several people have asked whether I feel at risk when I walk on my own with Fiji. Recently a neighbour told me she thought I was very brave considering how prevalent crime is nowadays.
The thing is, I’m not totally oblivious to what goes on in the world around me, so I’m aware we have had a few incidents in the neighbourhood over the past few years, but I’m also not going to let myself be dictated to by a fear of something that might remotely possibly happen one day – if I were to let that determine my actions I’d never do anything!
Of course I do take precautions – when I’m out and about with Fiji I’m constantly listening to what is happening around me, and not just to hear cars and other movable obstacles! I’ve built up a good network amongst members of my community and know from experience that they look out for me as they go about their daily business. When I travel by Uber I send a link of my trip to whomever I’m going to visit. Of course I realize that being blind makes me a softer target for anyone who feels inclined to try and take advantage of my lack of sight than I would otherwise be – I’m not stupid, after all!
But I will not become paranoid and let that paranoia control my life and stop me from doing what I want to – any more than I’ll let my blindness determine the life I’m capable of living!
Sprinklers that make that SH-SH-SH-message sound used to upset me. It covers a lot of noise that I wanted to pay attention to. Leaf blowers are a nuisance. Sound is the paint for my audio canvas. I tend to picture the world a little bit better than I really know it is. 😎
I think I’d prefer to see the world as being better than it really is, rather than expecting the worst of everyone I encounter, Jeff