moments to laugh about

[Michael Feir]

Hello everyone. I believe it's time to lighten things up a bit here. I've covered a lot of serious ground lately and hope I haven't bored you all to bits. One of the ways I've found most effective at putting strangers at ease is to share a funny story which hinges on my disability. Once they see that I'm able to laugh at things which happened due to my blindness, they feel far less afraid of accidentally offending me. Given time, people will feel relaxed enough around me that they'll sometimes forget that I can't see altogether. Here's one of my favorite moments for achieving this sort of social victory:

 

I got my degree at the Erindale University campus located in Missisauga. One of the reasons I felt blessed to be going there was that getting to classes was fairly simple as there were only three main buildings I had to worry about. Most of my classes were in the North building. Most of the social activity and good food was in the South building. That meant I often had to walk the "five minute walk" between them. That's what the path was actually called. Anyhow, by the third Winter I spent there, I felt pretty confident getting around.

 

Normally, I don't tend to wear hoods or tooks because they cover the ears which robs me of some of my hearing. I need to be able to hear echoes from objects and such to get around well. However, on this particular day, there was so much wind and snow blowing around that I decided I wouldn't lose anything by wearing the hood. For the first time, I put the hood on and did the entire walk between buildings by feel. Navigating indoors with a hood is a bit tricky also since it changes the acoustics you're used to hearing without one. However, I figured I might be a bit late for class and pressed on.

 

Hearing my professor talking, I realised I had found the right room and also that I was a little late. I felt proud at having made it and strode confidently into the room. The whole class including the professor started laughing their heads off. "What?" I asked, tossing my head in surprise as I continued towards my customary desk. I heard a surprised little shreak from a woman slightly behind me on the right. This resulted in another round of hearty laughter from the class. It hadn't sounded like a particularly happy shreak. Why were they all laughing?

 

There were a number of trees planted along the path especially when you approach the buildings. I hadn't realised that a low-hanging bough of one tree I passed under deposited a pile of snow onto my hood. Because my hood was so thick and puffy, I couldn't feel the extra weight on top of it. I had marched into class with this pile still balanced on my head. That caused the first round of laughter. When I shook my head in surprise, the pile of snow fell from my hood right into a woman's lap as if I had aimed it there. Everyone could see that it was entirely accidental and that I didn't realise the snow had been on my hood. They also saw me turn towards where I heard the shreak and turn away in confusion since I couldn't see the pile of snow I had accidentally dumped on the lady's lap. I might have gone through the whole class completely ignorant of the pile of snow and everyone realised this adding to the humour. A student who sat beside me thankfully explained what I had unwittingly done to cause the lady to shreak and why everyone laughed when I walked in. Once I understood what had happened, I was able to laugh along with everyone else.

 

What moments have you found in your lives which make good introductory stories? It doesn't really matter whether they're disability related or not. They say that as long as you can laugh, you can live. If you fel up to it, share a funny story from your life.

 

Michael Feir
Owner of Silver Smiles
Join and share the silver lining in your life.
Group home page: http://groups.google.com/group/silver-smiles
2010--
Author of Personal Power:
How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People
2006-2008
www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power

 

A Life of Word and Sound
2003-2007
http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound
 
Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine
1996-2004
Check out my blog at:
www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com