My dad is blind. He was married to a woman who had had some biracial kiddos for a while. Both he and his wife were white. One time the whole crew was riding the bus when a “Good Samaritan” kindly pulled him to the side and said “I don’t know how to tell you this but... those aren’t your kids.” *face palm*

My top stories are also "so you can see!" related. So many people think that there's no range of visual impairment between "glasses completely correct your vision" and "no light perception."

Especially the creeps who try to "catch" you or "test" you.

A woman on a train as we were waitijg to get off turned to my wife, who was stood behind me, and loudly inquired "DOES HE NEED HELP?" while I was literally stood betweejn this woman and my wife. Because being blind makes you deaf and incapable of talking apparently.

I asked for a braille menu and they gave me a drink menu. I was underage...

Waiting outside a Bruce Springsteen gig, he kindly stopped his car when he saw us waiting, and signed things and took photos.
Obsessed older fan the next day at second gig went nuts yelling that I’m a piece of shit who fakes being blind so I could meet Springsteen.

This happened a few weeks ago. I asked my aunt if there were any more bananas left. She says yes. I stand up and proceed to go get it. She threw it at me. Luckily, it hit my chest and not my face. She forgets sometimes.

When I used a dating site, I got a *lot* of messages asking about it.

About half were people legitimately asking because they wanted to know how blind people do dating sites, which is a legitimate question.

But, the other half were people either calling me a faker, a dumb whore, or, my personal favorite, a hell-bound lying slut, amongst other things.

Also fun were the guys who just saw my pics and sent dick pics, then got all the way up in their feelings because they didn't read my bio or any of my posts about how I am blind, so I'd say, "I can't see, what's the pic of?"

They really hated that.

Honorable mention to the nurse who saw me walking, holding my friend's arm after I suddenly went blind, and asked if I needed a wheelchair. I thought it was the friend's sister and was like, "Uhhhh no, you can see me walking just fine."

I apologized like 15 times when she said, "I was only offering because it could be faster and policy says to ask" or something.

I thought I didn't have a story, but then I remember the following story from about a decade ago:

I was waiting with my mate outside Hungry Jack's (Burger King) somewhere between midnight and 1am for dad to come and give us a lift home. I'm holding my ID cane and we're talking and this bloke walks past looking at us. The movement catches my eye and I look at him straight in the eye and he exclaims "Your not fucking blind!" and keeps walking a few steps to the traffic lights. My mate and I look at each other and just burst out laughing, and then the guy comes back to us. "Sorry mate," he says "that was a pretty stupid of me, I don't actually know how much you can see or whatever". So then we had a chat to him for a short while and I explained I was night blind and lacked periperhal vision by central was still quite good. Funny bloke, good times.

A bonus story, also with a good ending:

Sitting on the train two years back, I had my Vision Impaired Person badge on and I was reading a book. A rougher sort of couple sit across from me and the guy says "How is he blind? He's reading" or words to that effect, plenty loud enough for me to hear. Without missing a beat, his partner explained "He could just have no peripheral vision, or otherwise still have enough sight to see nearer objects well enough to read". I smiled to myself, I was really impressed she hit the nail on the head - obviously had some experience with vision impairment. My only regret is not speaking up and saying as much.

People speak to me as though I'm retarded or hard of hearing

I’m sighted and brought a blind friend with me to a hair salon. The place was an old theater remodeled to be a beauty school, so there were multiple levels to it. The stylist escorting is back seriously asked me, “can she climb stairs?”

I went in to my local dollar store and there were a few people around the register area. Someone ran outside and then some more people followed. I thought it was a pack of kids and ignored it and was happy to realize I was at the front of the line. When I thought the cashier was ready I asked her if they had any packing tape. She started crying and I thought wow she’s having a crappy day. Then she says... we just got robbed at gunpoint and you walked right in behind them. After that, they teased me about being a fearless badass every time I came in.

Multiple time at Walmart I've had cashiers ask to scan my cane thinking it was I guess a walking stick or something. They always profusely apologized though.

Out in public I’ve had several instances where people accused me of “faking” because they don’t understand that some blind people still have some useable vision . One lady followed me around trying to “catch” me.

Just remembered this. Before I used a white cane but wore sunglasses 24/7.

Bartender: “Why are you wearing sunglasses?”

Me: “I’m vision impaired.”

Bartender: “But you’re looking right at me.”

Me: “I have a face, I have to look somewhere!”

Bartender: “If you’re so blind how did you know what drink to order then?”

Me: “My sister read me the menu!!”

Bartender: “But you’re looking right at me!!”

My sister came and stuck up for me at that point. When we called the owner I got a big apology, promised that if we come back we can have private room with free drinks, and that said bartender no longer works there.

I apparently look about half my age, so on the occasion when I'm, say, on a plane or in a city halfway across the country from home, I get asked if my parents are OK with this.

I was once in a hotel lobby with two other blind people, both with sleepshades, and both lagging behind me quite a bit. The people at the desk were perplexed as to what to do, and assumed I must have some usable vision, what with not wearing shades and all.

There was once a hotel clerk who insisted that the driver of the cab that I arrived in take me to my room. It's not the insistence, though, but the way she was clearly straining not to start shrieking in horror when I suggested I could handle it.

And of course, there was the guy who came up to me and another blind person on the street, saying "bus stop? Bus stop?" as though we were incapable of understanding sentences. We were actually trying to reach a coffee shop that was, like, half a block away. He shows no signs of understanding this explanation, and it goes on long enough that another guy pulls up and asks what's going on. The first guy declares that we're looking for the bus stop. We try to clarify again, and the new guy seems to get it a bit better. At this point, I try to clarify that we're going the right way by pointing with my cane. The first guy, for a reason I have yet to discern, starts walking backward while saying something, and runs into it. ... at chest height. The second guy has parked his truck at this point, and I get the impression he might possibly recognize the other guy. At some point, the other blind person tries to defuse the situation by gently pointing out that we would be fine traveling half a block, as we had gotten that far on our own.

... The first guy starts cussing defiantly, and the second guy is kinda taken aback, and the other blind person bursts into stress-laughter. I maybe shouldn't have exercised my middle finger at that point, but I don't think anyone noticed. Then I just silently turn to leave, and the second guy politely warns me that his truck is in the road where I'm about to cross. I said thank you but I'm not sure he heard because my instincts were very opposed to speaking loudly given the circumstances. By the time I'm across the street, the truck guy tries telling the first guy (hereafter "the jerk") to leave us alone, but it had no effect. The jerk is leading the other blind person—who is pausing to catch their breath before trying to talk him down again—at this point. The jerk just replies to the continued protestations with more profanity, and a matter-of-fact declaration that "being blind's the next worst thing t' bein' dead", and adds that he'd rather be dead. The other blind person gives up on dialogue at this point, and I make a point of passing the jerk and reaching our destination first, but he still showed no signs of getting the message (I only just now realized he might have been pulling a the first hotel and assumed I had some vision, although that seems ... almost well-reasoned compared to his demonstrated thinking on the subject).

He did not follow us inside, and the barista apparently liked my shoes enough to compliment them. Remembering this part makes me want a banana-nut muffin. Hmm.

When in the airport I requested assistance getting to my gate. The airline employee insisted I sit in the wheelchair even though I told him I still had some useable vision and I could follow him, but he insisted so I complied. When we got to security and I had to pass through the body scan machine the T.S.A. worker waived me through, which I did not see. He got annoyed and irritatedly told me to step forward. So I did. When I passed through the machine I said, “I’m sorry I didn’t see you waiving I’m legally blind.” His response was, “I saw you looking at your phone while you were in line, you’re not blind.” I told him I still had some useable vision and I was also using bluetooth earbuds to hear what was on my phone screen. He kind of ignored me so I went to gather my things and put on my shoes. He came up to me after a few minutes and apologized saying it was stupid of him to think that all people that need assistance have to be totally blind. I thanked him for his apology and that was that.

More recently I was at a convention walking with two acquaintances, and my white cane with a rollerball tip. All of a sudden the girl that was talking trailed off mid-sentence and both girls took a step away from me looking concerned. A police dog had run up to smell the ball at the end of my cane lol The dog’s handler called his name and said, “No!” The handler ran up and apologized and hurriedly ushered his dog away. I didn’t even have a chance to say, “i love dogs.” Lol As I resumed my conversation with my companions I said, “I’m glad they didn’t find the weed in my purse.” Lol That was just a joke of course.

I just laugh all of them off, so it was hard to come up with one.

I adventured out to LA for dinner like I sometimes do. It was 7 or 8 at night, but not very late. I was asking for directions to the train, a few blocks away. A Chinese lady stopped I was close to China town, but not within it. I don’t think she spoke much english. I happen to be Chinese and speak her dialect. She begins to shriek at me. This woman hhas a shrill high pitched voice anyway! She was shrieking at the top of her voice.

She asks:

Where are your parents? Why are you out in the dark? Why are you out so late? It’s not safe, and you’re blind.

I kept telling her that I was fine, just needed a little of direction, this area was new to me. I had heard of this restaurant and decided to come check it out. I am usually a little adventurous. I tried to be nice to her. That it wasn’t a problem, and I was independent. I told her I was in no danger. I told her even my mother didn’t do this.

Earlier my father texted me, to ask if I was coming home for dinner. I told him I wasn’t and the response was two words litterally: Have fun. I laughed.

Anyway, I eventually got a bit far from that lady she followed and shrieked at me. I found someone else and the lady eventually went away. The guy asked who that was. He said he thought he was my mother and thought she was trying to help me. I got what I needed.

This one recently happened- i’m a partially blind cand-user. My work includes quite a bit of public speaking. This week, i had to give a presentation on a stage to a large crowd. My boss said that the folks in the front row looked mildly terrified as i paced on the stage as if they thought i was going to fall off haha

This just happened last night, someone asked how I can be on Redd it if I'm blind. Never experienced the people asking about how many fingers I can see.

Oh wait here's a gem, in a thrift shop I had a woman start talking to me about transalting court stuff for the blind, how if the judge says something she translates it. Mind you I'm responding and just going along with this because I have no effing clue what she is talking about, I thought translation like Spanish as she was Hispanic...

Yeah, no I get out to the car with my mother who was with me and she said "I think she confused blind and deaf, she was sighing during that entire conversation."

By the way, this lady said she was certified to do this job... Enough said much?

This is pasted from a reply I made on another thread here:

Probably the two worst examples I can think of were when I was at rehab. I was under blindfold walking down the street. There was no tactile distinction between the parking lot on my left and the sidewalk. I bumped into a parked car, realized I had veered into the parking lot, and started making my way back to the sidewalk when a woman slides her arm through my elbow--square dance style--to "help" me back to the sidewalk. Keep in mind I had already realized where I was and was making a course correction. The other time, I was at a post office, innocently asked where the end of the line was, and a girl grabbed my hips and steered me there like we were in a conga line. Neither of these people asked to touch me in any way, and I had no idea the first lady was even there before she decided to play personal space invaders with me.

An honorable mention has to go to the morning I was on the bus to work when an absolutely plastered lady got on and started talking to my dog. She attempted to pet her, but in her drunken state, missed the mark and started petting my leg in stead. I quickly relocated to the other side of the aisle, but for the rest of the trip she kept groping the air a foot or two in front of where my dog was lying in a futile attempt to pet her.

Speaking of busses... these crazy memories are just flooding back to me right now... another bus related incident at rehab this time, I had forgotten to slip my ID lanyard under my shirt when I left the building, and while on the bus a woman grabs my ID and starts looking at it... while it was still around my neck.

Probably the worst reactions I've had are right here on Reddit, though. Just search /r/showerthoughts for "blind" sometime. The lack of knowledge is palpable. For some reason people have a hard time grasping that blind people can type. Haven't people heard of touch typing? Same with using computers. People are like, "you can use a computer?!" and I respond "I *build* computers."