12 Collabs of Christmas – DAY #4 – Look At It This Way (Ft. L)

Bonjour 🙂
Today I’m here with a piece of writing that I think everyone should read and learn from. It really shines a light on the way we treat people, not just those who have special conditions, but everyone on general. It was written by L (londonblind) and I really want to thank him for taking the time to write this for my project 🙂 Hope you enjoy it as I did!
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Well hello there, blogosphereians.
**As you probably don’t read my blog, I suppose I should clarify that blogoshpereians is an endearing title I have given to the people of the blogging universe.**
My name is L, and I was kindly taken up on my offer to write for this epic blog. May I mention what a brilliant blog you’ve chosen to read this fine day/night, Sir/Madam? You likely know very little about me, but if you do, then well done you! For those less fortunate, I’ll list a few interesting facts about me below, labelled in a non-numerically ordered list:

24. I like Italian food
6. I’m from London, England, UK
1. I’m super excited for Christmas
102. I don’t like cheese
69. I’m blind
2. I write a REALLY good blog [I never said these facts were ture, did I?]
41. I love to read, write and listen to music
19. I travel a LOT by train

Look, OK, I acknowledge that this post is currently making me look like a little bit of a crazy, rambling idiot with a really bad sense of humour. [Oh wow, I’ve literally just managed to sum myself up without even trying – GET ME!]

I wanted to write about point number 69. [If you can’t remember it, feel free to go and find it again, but don’t forget to come back and keep reading. I’ll put in a pause, so you can quickly nip back and check what point number 69 was.]

You back? Awesome!

So, I’m blind. I don’t let that get in my way, because to me, after all these years,it’s just a way of life – my way of life. Things are different, and I go about performing every-day tasks differently, in a way that’s easier for me, and in a way which enables me to be independent. I use a white cane – I’m sure you’ve seen them before; they’re the long white sticks that blind people sweep in front of them to detect obsticles or people [they’re one and the same really]. When people see me using my cane out and about, they usually come out with one of the following responses:

A] “Aww, you poor thing. I feel so sorry for you; you’re such an inspiration to everyone around you” [Extreme cases of this response have before led to strangers wanting to hug me, or to give me £20 notes.]
B] “Look where you’re going, will you? That’s my bag you’ve just fallen over!”
C] “Oh wow, that’s so interesting! How do you watch TV?” [Or something similar]

Although response A [it was so tempting to write number A then] can improve my finances, and response B can allow me to let off some steam by shouting at someone, I actually prefer it when response C is what I’m greeted with. I prefer it, because it shows that people aren’t completely ignorant. It demonstrates that they are interested in what I have to brng to the world, and they’re interested to learn about how a disability can make you think and perform daily tasks in a completely different way. However ego-boosting being called “an inspiration” is, it’s not the response I want. I wish to be a normal participant in society, not someone who stannds out because I do things differently due to a lack of sight. That in itself has had me called inspirational before now, but that’s quite ironic considering that’s the response I’m trying to get away from.

Sure, I’m happy to explain to anyone who’s interested how I live my life differently; how I do things differently because I can’t use my eyes to aid me; how I have adapted some every-day equipment to aid me around the house. I have no issue with that, I just don’t want to be called inspirational, because I’m not. I’m your average teenager, just living out my life on the internet, and reading more books than you could find in a library. Hey, that’s me: WhatsApp and books… I like that.

If any of you guys hae any questions for me, whether it be about what I’ve written here or not, I’m open to emails, tweets or Kik messages; you can get in touch by:
Email: cwarned@yahoo.com
Twitter; @CWarned
Kik: CWarnedL

I hope you’ve enjoyed this guest post, and if you haven’t, don’t worry, because normal service will resume shortly.

Don’t forget to check my blog out:
lifeofblind.wordpress.com

L XX