Eyes

Eyes, a photo by Cobra_11 on Flickr.

The other day I was with a friend and her kids, when my friend had to go out for a couple of minutes and just as she was leaving she said: "Could you keep an eye on things, please? I'll only be a minute." There was a pause. Then she started apologizing although there was absolutely no need for an apology, since I wasn't offended by what she had said.

In fact, blind people use such phrases, too. A while ago, when I was beginning to learn Braille, a friend, who is blind, helped me. He is an expert on Braille, since he's been using it all his life. When I embossed some words on the paper and I wasn't sure if the letters were written correctly, he said: "Let me have a look," and he took the paper and felt the letters with his fingers.

I think that just because you're talking to a blind person, you don't have to avoid all words that have anything to do with eyes or sight. Just act accordingly. If you want to show something to someone who can't see, feel free to say "Here, have a look," and then put the thing into their hands and let them explore the object by touch. If you say "Did you see that?" about something that you saw happen, simply explain the action that went on. That just points to the fact that you percieve the blind person as an equal, who can do things just as well as a sighted person, and that you can see beyond their disability. Isn't that what acceptance into society is all about?