I really don’t like change! I know that I am set in my ways, but one of the ways that a visually impaired person learns to cope is through repetition. Keeping things the same just makes life easier.
The other day at the swimming pool I was waxing eloquently about this topic. I was in the change room when a woman I knew slightly began telling me how brave I was to be at the swimming pool by myself. I explained that there wasn’t any problem because at the pool, everything always stayed the same. The lockers were the same, the showers were the same and the entry to the pool didn’t change. I think that I sounded quite confident as I left her to continue with her swimsuit and I headed to the water.
I made my way to the steps at the shallow end of the pool ...but what was this? There weren’t any steps!
Just then the lifeguard came rushing up to me. “Oh!” she said. ”I should have warned you. We moved the steps today. They are at the other end of the pool.”
My confidence went down a notch or two as I made my way back to where I had obviously passed the new location for the steps. The steps are movable and probably the only thing in the whole aquaplex that isn’t a fixture. I began to giggle. I had been so pleased with myself as I explained to the woman in the change room just how well I could manage. Then for the first time in possibly years, the steps had been changed.
As I did my laps, I thought of how much I depend on things staying the same. Repetition and familiarity help me to cope in so many ways. It is change that throws me for a loop.
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