We don't always know what other people are going through. Some people are very private about their lives and don't share—and we definitely can't assume anything about a person just by looking at them.
But oh, do some people love to try!
Paul of @matthewandpaul, who introduces himself as blind at the start of each of his videos, recently was the target of assumptions being made based on a person's appearance.
When we think of how blind people have been portrayed in media and entertainment, we might think of a cane or guide dog, thick black glasses, and a complete inability to see. This, however, is one extreme on the spectrum of blindness.
Paul's experience involves "pinpoint vision" in which he might be able to "pinpoint" something directly in front of him, including the location of a person or a camera, allowing him to hold prolonged eye contact.
While going to a restaurant in Seattle with his guide dog, Mr. Maple, he was immediately approached by restaurant staff and told that pets could not come into the restaurant.
Paul explained that Mr. Maple was a guide dog, on duty, and not a service dog.
The man then proceeded to tell him that he wasn't blind.
"I literally had this harness (with a sign that reads 'Guide Dogs for the Blind' on it) attached to him (Mr. Maple). I showed this to him and said, 'I'm blind!'"
"He said, 'You don't look blind.'"
"And I said, 'A lot of people in the blind community still have some functional vision.'"
"He said, 'You're looking right at me.'"
"I said, 'Yes, but I have a pinhole of vision. That's all I can see.'"
The man then explained how he was "on to" Paul.
"He proceeded to say, 'Listen, this isn't my first rodeo. Do you see any other dogs in this restaurant?'"
"I said, 'Honestly, no, I'm blind. There could be!'"
Paul was then told that he had to leave the restaurant, and if he tried to come back with Mr. Maple, the staff would call the police.
You can watch the video here:
Fellow TikTokers were impressed with how well Paul handled the situation.
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Fortunately, Paul was able to go back and meet with the manager, and it all turned out to be a misunderstanding.
"I told him (the manager) that I do not want to press charges, I don't even want the guy to lose his job, I just want people to understand the spectrum of blindness and to understand the importance of service animals, real service animals."
"So apparently, the employee that I was dealing with just had a really negative encounter with a patron that came in with a service dog in a vest. The dog was completely untrained, kind of unruly, and out of control, and the reason he didn't believe me or thought that this was another one of those situations is because I told him I was blind but was able to sustain eye contact with him."
"I think a lot of people want things to be black and white. If you have a disability, they want you to have the version that they've seen represented in movies and TV for many years, whereas 93 percent of people who are blind have some functional vision."
You can watch his second video here:
We're glad Paul received the apology he deserved, but it would have been so much easier if the restaurant staff had listened from the beginning, rather than making assumptions about what he thought was happening.
