Re: people touching blind people
I'm afraid this is one of my pet hates, I admit I might have more of an issue about this than other people, but honestly, why does lacking eyeballs mean also having no right to personal space?
Often when I'm getting onto or off a train someone will grab my arm without asking, something which if they did it to a woman would be considered fairly severe harassment, sometimes people will touch my hand etc when just talking or asking a question, or put a hand on my shoulder, which just tends to make me feel like an animal they're interacting with.
I agree with Flacus that people are essentially trying to do a "good deed for the day", however I'm afraid that the fundamental difference here is that someone who grabs without asking is not actually treating me as a human being, they're just behaving in an expected way towards a current example of homo blindus weirdus.
Of course, if people actually ask "would you like to take my arm?" or "can I help you off the train" or the like, that is another matter, since then they're treating me as a rational human being with a brain who can answer for himself, and i will respond with all politeness, however if people grab first and ask questions later I tend to respond badly by shaking their arm off or brushing a hand off me. I'm afraid I sometimes think blind people should be given tasers for this reason, so whenever some idiot decides to get handy bzzzzzzzt!
With blind people I am the same. Unless I've given you permission to touch me, hands off please, I recall one boy who used to attend a school I went to who used to swim through the air with his hands towards whoever he was talking to, and then literally paw them mercilessly, on one occasion I literally grabbed both his wrists, shoved his hands against the wall and said "Stay there!"
i did have one hilariously surreal experience at the feel the force convention, when a tiny blind fellow dressed as a Jawa proceeded to want to feel my Jedi costume, and indeed most of me as well, which was just down right strange! .
I will freely admit I have hangups about touch myself, but hay other people don't have put up with this, so why should people be allowed to violate my personal boundaries just because I happen to lack eyeballs.
By an ironic twist of fate, I am married to a lady who is almost the opposite. She is probably one of the most openly tactile people you can imagine, and has no problems being touched. To an extent this might be because with the exception of stalkers and perverts, people respect women's physical boundaries far more than mens. Plus, my lady is just like that naturally anyway, she's an extremely affectionate person who really doesn't mind being touched.
Paradoxically, for all I really hate touch from random strangers, my lady and I touch each other all the time, indeed we're probably one of those couples who are either sickeningly sweet, or really irritating depending upon your perspective .
Someone once described watching us as quite sensual, since where two sighted people would naturally communicate by eye contact and facial _expression_, we tend to touch each other instead, then again that's all part of being married, and is just one other reason why I so dislike uninvited touch from random strangers.
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