Honestly, I rather tend to get the completely opposite reaction (sighted people panicking about me potencially being lost/needing help whether that's the case or not). I think gender roles might be a factor as I'm young and female. But also I live in Europe not Canada so that might make a huge difference as well.

Do you use Blindsquare? Then you could mark the intersection spot in order to not get lost there again.

Hi, I’m so sorry for this experience. I’m twenty years old female living in the US, currently sighted but with my condition, I accepted that eventually, I might be totally blind. Honestly, I hate when people do that and get very frustrated and disappointed when I witness sighted people either grabbing blind people without warning or avoiding them altogether. Recently, I saw a man with a guide dog, tall, attractive, dressed like a university professor and wearing black glasses, lost in the middle of a busy train station in downtown Philadelphia, and fifteen people were literally staring at him terrified without helping. Only when I started walking towards him, the woman standing right next to him decided to help. There is a sort of anxiety connected to blindness among sighted folks and they seem to be literally so terrified of the concept of blindness that they would avoid having any indirect contact with it. Disgusting. However, I must confess that before I was diagnosed with my condition, I wasn’t so quick to help because I wasn’t sure how to approach a blind person and was scared that I might scare them or come off as patronizing. Sighted people somehow do not differentiate the guide dog harness from others and do not always understand that that clean, well-dressed, independent and successful man might be blind. Also, glasses really help sighted folks to understand that one is blind because conventionally blind people are portrayed as wearing dark glasses at all times. Thank you for sharing this, and hopefully, it doesn’t happen to you again!

I’m not comfortable lately blind but just VI enough to get lost sometimes, my wife found a wonderful walking navigator that I use when I find myself in one of those situations it’s called Lazarillo we call it my guide dog

Did you have your IM blind glasses on? I understand you had your white cane with you but without the glasses some people just don’t get it sometimes you just have to have the full kid on for people to understand. Even then sometimes it just doesn’t click right away for people when they see you like this.

Anyway I would just say call your friends or family but I do understand it sometimes you just can’t rely on them. There are a couple solutions but the one I recommend is the following app.

Be My Eyes

It will call volunteer and it would help you out using your phone‘s camera. I also understand that you were fully loaded had you cane and probably didn’t wanna juggle your phone but this is also the perfect time to just stop get yourself centered and ask for a little bit of help through the app. Once you got oriented you could’ve put the Apple way and found your way back and worst case if you’re still lost you can always call volunteer again. There was this amazing thread from the other day that said if you need help just don’t be afraid to ask. It really sucks that nobody around you wanted to help you but we do have other resources for getting help.

Have not run into this yet but that is more cause I did not really go out befoer going blind. I did say hello to my neighbor’s driveway yesterday during mobility' again…

That sounds no fun. I can totally get how frustrating the first would be. It is a shame but there are random nutters out there and people get spooked. Maybe a folding cane to signal that you do need help? Or Be My Eyes to help navigate?

I'm a small woman so my fear is that I'd get robbed or something if I asked a random person for help.

I'm usually in town so there are stores I can go in and ask for directions. I have no clue what I would do in the burbs.