I have this great idea for a science fiction movie. The main character is abruptly thrust into an invisible world; there are people all around, but they are invisible. He walks into a room that he can't see, wonders if there is a chair he can sit on. He feels around for a chair, finds one and sits--only to find himself sitting on the lap of a stranger. The stranger doesn't say anything, doesn't offer to help him find a chair, just sits there embarrasse . He gets up to look for another chair, runs into a table, knocks over a candy dish, feels around for the door and when he finds it, walks into a closet.
See what could be done with such a plot? There are endless possibilities for comical scenes, and there could be some tragedy thrown in. And the psychological aspects could be explored in depth. Does our hero retreat into himself? Does he find a safe place and live out his life sitting in the corner? Or does he become a bully, striking out at anyone or anything that gets in his way? Come to think of it, that's already been done.
This is not a science fiction plot, after all. I know a beautiful teenage girl who lives in an invisible world. I have seen the people sit and watch her. She walks into the crowded high school cafeteria and wonders where there is an empty seat; no one speaks. Sometimes, to avoid the embarrassment, she stays in the restroom through the lunch hour. She walks into a classroom or club meeting and no one speaks; no one says, "Here's a chair. Sit by me." The conversation goes on around her but she is not included. Oh, someone might say "Hi", but that hardly makes a conversation. It's hard to make a conversation out of that. She goes to church and sits alone; no hymnal, no bulletin, no Bible. Except for going to school and church, she is lonely. come to think of it, she is lonely at school and church.
This girl is bright; she has good grades. She is talented. She is fun-loving, laughing even at herself. At least she's smiling on the outside. Most of the time she is smiling, at least on the outside. She doesn't always keep her hurt and anger to herself. She has been left standing in the parking lot when everyone else got into the car and drove off, not realizing someone was missing. She has been totally ignored by teenagers who have known her all her life. Perhaps they don't want to be bothered or maybe they just don't know what to do. She is different and young people don't want to be different. That's out. To be alike. To be "in", you must be like all the others. She's a thinker; she doesn't mind speaking up. That, too, is "out." Don't think; just do what all the others do. So she is different in more ways than one. Maybe being blind has taught her to think differently, and she has a lot of time for thinking.
She's a survivor and she will make it in this world. Weighing slightly more than two pounds at birth and spending almost three months in the hospital, she survived. She has survived fifteen years of hurts, snub, loneliness. Yes, she will survive. But is it too much to hope for some happiness thrown in?
People do not mean to be cruel, I'm sure. They do not understan. Our world is not real to blind persons. What can be felt by touch is real. They are alone in a crowded room if no one speaks to them. What they cannot feel does not exist. We make no allowance for their blindness. They must adjust to an unreal world, an invisible world. They are never really at home. They live in "nothingness." And we, by our silence and uninvolvement, relegate the blind themselves to treat the blind themselves as if they were nothing.
I think we can do better. Parents cannot do it all. They have a difficult task and need our help, also. Parents themselves do not know just what the blind go through. We walk beside them, holding their hands, but we have never walked in their shoes. Parents ache and suffer along with the blind. This teenager will never know how many hours her parents have wept over her hurts. She will never know how many nights her mother has cried herself to sleep. One must be brave; one must help the handicapped to be brave, help her to accept the fact that she is different and will always be an outsider to some extent.
I do not mean to put down anyone. There are those who really want to help; there are those who have been good friends and a great help. For the rest, I would like to suggest at least a little courtesy, a little understanding.
It could happen to you sometime. It could be your child who lives in an invisible world. It could be you crying in the night. There but for the grace of God ...
Please, let's learn to accept one another as we are, and learn to love one another. Let's be thoughtful and kind. If you don't know what to say, start with "Hi, how are you?" But don't stop with that. Blind people do talk--and they listen better than most of us. If they come across as a little pushy, forcing a conversation, it is because that's the only way they know someone sees them, someone knows they are there.
Many years ago someone said it: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
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