Sight is one of the most heavily used senses today. Travel is accomplished with the help of traffic signs of different colors or displays of flights and their pending arrival or departure. Even pedestrians utilize street signs for their location and required directions. Cell phones and tablets require custom settings to be activated and the occasional additional app to be installed so owners unable to see the touchscreen can still enjoy their devices. While many art museums feature audio tours, they tend to describe the life of the artist or history of the painting and not the beauty of the piece itself. Magazines and other publications try to boost their sales by featuring covers that are pleasing to the eye or broadcasting controversial headlines. A difference between the amount of movement detected by the eyes and the motion sensitive inner ear is what causes motion sickness. These are just some examples of the importance of the information our brains receive from our eyes.
The recent release of Daredevil on Netflix got me thinking about how much can be learned about the surrounding world without being able to see. Even without enhanced senses, much can be gleaned about obstacles ahead by listening to the effects solid objects have on sounds in the area. A number of blind folks have developed a navigation technique that takes advantage of echolocation.
The post today attempts to describe a normal daily activity while using only the senses of hearing, smell, touch, and taste.
It was a wonderful spring morning. The warmth of the sun emerged through the windows as I walked across the smooth tile floor of the kitchen. My bare feet had received a slight shock when I stepped from the carpet of my bedroom hall onto the chill of the ceramic tiles of the kitchen. The difference was noticeable, but not as drastic as an early winter morning would provide.
My toes rested familiarly in the gentle roughness of the grouted groove between the tiles that were lined up in front of my refrigerator. Opening it up, I heard the gentle clatter of glass on glass from the shifting bottles on the shelves of the door. A cool draft filled with the smells of box of oranges placed on the bottom shelf blew across my face. Reaching in, I felt for the round tub of butter where I usually left it. Finding the smooth plastic, I reached around it to make sure its size and shape were what I expected. I set the butter on the shelf next to the fridge and grabbed the second jar on the right from the top shelf of the door. Removing the lid, I gave the contents a sniff to make sure it was the orange marmalade that I was in the mood for. It took spooning grape jelly instead of pickle relish on a hot dog for me to learn that a jar sitting where I expected it doesn't mean the jar would necessarily contain what I was looking for. That was certainly one of the more interesting hot dogs I've ever eaten.
Stepping through the warm spot formed by the sun again, I stopped for a second to warm my feet up and savor the start of a potentially nice day. Finally, I arrived at the larger counter I used for preparing my meals. Reaching forward with a well practiced motion, I grabbed the smooth glass knob of my breadbox. My fingers traced along the first plastic bag of bread they found. Finding the front of the bag, I felt the plastic clip holding it closed. That clip told me the bread was white bread, not the wheat I wanted to toast. Finding another bag, I felt the twist tie that meant this bag contained the type of bread I desired.
The kitchen was filled with the scent of warm wheat as I pulled a knife from a nearby drawer and opened the butter and marmalade. The satisfying "tunk" of the toaster told me my breakfast was perfectly warmed just as a light rumble from my stomach informed me it was time to eat. The hard wooden handle of the butter knife hardly moved in my hand as I drew it across the soft butter. A long, light crunching sound reached my ears as I moved the butter-coated knife along the stiff bread. Another soft rumble emerged from my stomach as I buttered the second slice. The scent of sweetness and oranges reached my nose as a layer of marmalade followed the butter. With one hand, I reached out and dropped the knife in the area I knew the sink to be. The clatter of metal blade on metal basin told me I was right on target, once again. My other hand brought one of the coated slices of toast unerringly towards my mouth. I took a big bite of the crispy bread. My mouth was filled with the creamy texture and sweet citrus flavor of my chosen toppings.
Now that my empty stomach had been filled, it was time to get the day started. The sounds of beeping alarms and shifting bed springs indicated that my roommates would be up soon. I left the butter and marmalade on the counter where the others could see them. I returned to my room and prepared myself for whatever the world had in store. It did seem odd to me that the only one in the house up early enough to enjoy a sunrise was the only one that couldn't see it's colors.
If you were to go blind, what is the one sight you think you would truly miss? With descriptive audio tracks on movies and television shows, books in braille, crosswalk signals with audio cues, and text-to-speech apps, do you think there is more that could be done for the sightless to help them enjoy the modern world?
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