Tuesday was a cool day in O&M. I learned a few things. The first was that I am really not okay going down stairs. The second was that in a crowd, the pausing that takes place to let others pass in front make it harder to gather clues about going up or down stairs. A few times, Lauren paused while guiding me, and I was sure there were stairs coming soon. Then, when she paused at the head of the stairs, I thought she was still pausing for the crowd. So, I was surprised when I felt her go down the stairs.
Speaking of the stairs… My life is littered with falling-down-the-stairs stories, and you’d think that would make me more accustomed to the falling process, but the truth is, it hurts to fall down the stairs, so I like to avoid it. It’s hard to describe what I feel when I head down the stairs blindfolded. With every step, I have to prepare myself to not freak out during that split second before my foot hits the step. That split second seems to last forever. I’m just (irrationally) sure that I’ll just keep falling and falling. So, all of these things run through my head with each step. That’s enough brain movement to mess a girl up. I’m just thinking too much. In fact, as we headed back to Stone, I was having a hard time keeping up with conversation because I was anticipating the stairs, totally faking myself out. We were pretty far away, so I missed a lot of time to chat with my classmates. I can see how blind kids lose chances to make social contacts while they are walking because they are more concerned with maintaining mobility.
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