Look, I'm Claude Rains!
Sep. 19th, 2005 07:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mmerriamI have become invisible.
You wouldn't think I would be invisible. You would think, as large as I am, wearing this red and white shirt, and carrying a white cane, I'd be easy to spot.
Apparently not.
Since I've started taking classes at the University this semester, I've noticed this strange phenomenon of the disappearing Michael.
It all has to do with flyers. If you've ever attended college, you know what I'm talking about. All over campus you can find students from various organizations handing out flyers, leaflets, coupons, even tickets to some event. All kinds of interesting stuff.
As people walk by, they offer the leaflets, flyers, or information, typically giving a one or two sentence spiel. Usually the object of their attention simply walks on past, but sometimes they take the offered information.
But whenever my course intersects theirs, they grow strangely silent, their eyes sliding past me to the next person. This morning four students from some evangelical group all turned away as I approached the high traffic area where they were pressing their information on passing students.
The don't know I can see their reactions. They don't know I can see them turn their backs, that I can see them look at me and make their decision to not engage. They don't know that I can see the aversion in their eyes. They don't seem to get that, if they speak to the person before me and behind me, I can hear them not speaking to me.
Apparently a blind person has no interest in their Jesus, or in freeing the Palestinians from oppression, or tickets to an event on campus. No, no interest at all.
I know I could simply say something. I could call them out on their behavior, and I probably should. But it gets tiring being a walking Public Service Announcement. I shouldn't have to.
I admit to being a bit baffled by their behavior. Surely they realize what they are doing? Surely their aversion to someone who is damaged goods cannot be so strong that they actually ignore that person. Surely they haven't stopped seeing me as a human being, with feelings and emotions, just like they are?
No, surely not.
So I must be invisible.
In Deep Peace
Michael
You wouldn't think I would be invisible. You would think, as large as I am, wearing this red and white shirt, and carrying a white cane, I'd be easy to spot.
Apparently not.
Since I've started taking classes at the University this semester, I've noticed this strange phenomenon of the disappearing Michael.
It all has to do with flyers. If you've ever attended college, you know what I'm talking about. All over campus you can find students from various organizations handing out flyers, leaflets, coupons, even tickets to some event. All kinds of interesting stuff.
As people walk by, they offer the leaflets, flyers, or information, typically giving a one or two sentence spiel. Usually the object of their attention simply walks on past, but sometimes they take the offered information.
But whenever my course intersects theirs, they grow strangely silent, their eyes sliding past me to the next person. This morning four students from some evangelical group all turned away as I approached the high traffic area where they were pressing their information on passing students.
The don't know I can see their reactions. They don't know I can see them turn their backs, that I can see them look at me and make their decision to not engage. They don't know that I can see the aversion in their eyes. They don't seem to get that, if they speak to the person before me and behind me, I can hear them not speaking to me.
Apparently a blind person has no interest in their Jesus, or in freeing the Palestinians from oppression, or tickets to an event on campus. No, no interest at all.
I know I could simply say something. I could call them out on their behavior, and I probably should. But it gets tiring being a walking Public Service Announcement. I shouldn't have to.
I admit to being a bit baffled by their behavior. Surely they realize what they are doing? Surely their aversion to someone who is damaged goods cannot be so strong that they actually ignore that person. Surely they haven't stopped seeing me as a human being, with feelings and emotions, just like they are?
No, surely not.
So I must be invisible.
In Deep Peace
Michael
