Day 30: Cane and Able

The white cane with the red tip is the most recognisable aide for the visually impaired. To a fully sighted person it acts as a warning and awareness tool that the beholder of such a device will need space to move freely. It is an internationally recognisable symbol that is nationally recongnised on one social day a year year in Australia know as the "White Cane Day"
We were invited once to an event called the "White Cane Dinner"at our local bowling club. It was a lovely time meeting up with people from all walks of life who celebrate using a white cane...I bet you didn't know such an event existed!

Blindman pushing stroller whil his toddler holds his cane outfront...not sure how effective this is but it made for a good picture

Information about the white cane

I remember a time when Deano and his Brother Lorin were working out what sort of cane they would like to use...I bet you didn't know there was different sorts of canes! Lorin had been in the US visiting his sister and doing a musical tour. When he arrived home he brought Dean a shiny white telescopic cane. The unusual part of this cane was that it looked to me like a retractable curtain rod...and to my surprise there was no red tip. Most of the western world to my knowledge recognised the white cane with the red tip as an indication that the carrier of such a devise was blind. I thought to myself...how on earth would anyone recognise this as a seeing eye cane...and I did express my concerns about it to my husband using his new cane as I felt it really would be confusing for people. However being that it was his newest toy my blindman insisted on taking it out for a spin. Departing on his usual trip to work with the confidence he carried with him every other day it was going to be a day like any other...so he thought...Within an hour I recieved a phone call from my man slightly distraught saying the cane was bent in two and he had to make his way through the city to work with his broken cane. Some person at the train station had jumped over the top of his cane landing on it. What a demise! Recently I read a blog post where a woman also said how powerful the red tip was on the end of the cane and how it changed her life....

Different kinds of cane tips

Ambutech an online store for cane users

"Hi all. I wanted to share an interesting experience I had today. Last week, I had my stick training lady come over, and she put some red reflective tape on the end of my cane to make it look like an american one. She said it would probably make a huge difference, and people would see it as a blind woman's cane, and not just an attractive white stick. lol. My hubby and I went shopping, and I took my cane as I always do. He asked me if I could go get some bread, while he went somewhere else to get something we had forgotten. So, I very shakily went off to get the bread. People were getting out of my way, and I thought, oh, ok. This is nice and easy! Then, we went to the complete other side of the shop to the car section. He had picked up the wrong orange juice, and so I said I would brave it back down the other end to get the right one. I was absolutely packing it! But I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. First, a young couple saw me coming, and quickly darted in front of me and sped off away from me. Then a guy went off to the baby section to get out of my way. I got the OJ and turned around to head back to my hubby. People were moving their trolley's out of the way, pulling their kids to one side, and even a walmart employee pulling one of them heavy crate things got out of the way. I have been a shelf stacker before and those things are awkward to maneuver, so I was actually planning to get out of her way. When I got back to my hubby and told him what happened, I decided to call my stick Moses. I know someone on here also calls their stick Moses, and now I know why!!!" Yay stick! Becky
It never seems to amaze me that the smallest things can change someones life so drastically!