The Bet


I woke up in total darkness.  At first I assumed it was the middle of the night in a power black out.  Then I realized that I could feel the sun's warmth against my skin.  Oh No!!  Now I remember......The Bet.  

Several days ago my husband came home carrying an armload of boxes.  He really couldn't really see where he was going and ran into the doorframe.  Being the ever-loving spouse, I reminded him how graceful he was.  Then told him I could walk around the house blindfolded without running into anything.  All I got out of him was a gruff grunt.  After dinner he walked up to me and said, "Turn around".  The next thing I know he's blindfolding me with a scarf.  Then he tells me to give him a guided tour of our home.  Whether I'm just good or it was dumb luck, I had no problem navigating around our house while in the dark.   Then I heard a voice say "This is nothing, I'll bet I could spend the whole weekend blindfolded, and still take care of the house and you."  That voice came out of me.  I have no idea where the words came from 'cause I wasn't thinking them.  My husband said only two words, "You're on!"

When he came home from work Friday afternoon, he had a small bag from the local pharmacy.  I was curious but didn't ask any questions.  As we were going to bed that night he pulled out the bag again.  This time he emptied the contents on the bed.  I saw a sleepmask, a pair of wrap around sunglasses and a cardboard box with oval shaped Band-Aids in it.  "These are adhesive eye patches.  I'm going to put one over each of your eyes.  You'll be able to see a little light but nothing else.  While you're in the house you'll wear the patches and sleep mask.  When we go outside you'll wear the sunglasses.  The inside surfaces of the sunglasses have been painted black."  He said all of this just as mater of fact as could be.  Shortly there after I was in the dark.  After he went out of the room, I tried lifting the mask a little to find out how much I could see.  The word Nothing comes to mind here.  Well, I asked for it so I might as well make the most of it.  I mean, what could he want a "blind" woman to do.  All I had to do was hang around the house for a couple of days and play Blind Girls Buff.

The clock went off and it was still dark.  I turned on the light but nothing happened.  I could feel warmth on my face but could see nothing!  Then I remembered The Bet.  I smelled breakfast cooking and decided to go investigate.  I felt around for my robe, found it and headed for the kitchen.  On the way, I was thinking the weekend blindness thing wasn't so bad after all.  He was doing the cooking and I was sure I could find my mouth with a fork.  Once in the kitchen, I was instructed to set the table.  "Excuse me, I can't see anything.  How do you expect me to set the table?"  I suppose I should have expected his answer "Use your hands and feel around for what you need".  I found the silverware, plates, etc.  No problem.  I'm glad we have plastic glasses because I dropped one.  I could tell it bounced all over the place by the sound.  My dear husband says, "Better pick that up before you step on it."  Down on my hands and knees I went.  After feeling around I finally found the glass.  The rest of breakfast was quite uneventful.  

Now the real fun began, what were we going to do for the rest of the day?  I didn't want to just sit around in the dark, but was somewhat afraid to go outside.  My husband settled that by telling me to get dressed, we were going shopping.  Now the panic set in.  I didn't mind being blindfolded in my own home, but out in public?!  After dressing he showed me how to hold his elbow while he guided me around.  I stayed about a half step behind him and could feel him stepping up or down.  I found that with a little practice it wasn't too hard.  As a matter of fact, after an hour or so it felt quite natural.  We walked around a large shopping mall and I marveled at all the sounds I never paid any attention to before.  We had lunch in a fast food place then went into a dress shop where he described some of the dresses to me.   It was interesting trying them on by touch.  They did allow my husband to help his "blind" wife since we were the only customers at that time.  I picked out what I thought would be a cute dress and we left.  Our next stop was a goofy golf course.  I protested, saying I was not going to sit around while he played!  He told me that we were both going to play.  Right!!  Yours truly is as blind as a bat and he thinks we're going to play goofy golf.  The next thing I know, he's leading out onto the course.  He put the ball down, had me feel it's location then described the shot to me.  He then walked over to the hole and told me to use the sound of his voice as a point of reference.  I even tried using the golf club as a cane as we walked around.  I didn't win, but I didn't do all that badly for a blind woman.  I was sorry I had to give the club back, it was easier to walk with it.

To tell you the truth, I couldn't wait for my next adventure.  For someone who had been "blind" for less than twenty-four hours, I felt pretty confident about myself.  I didn't have long to wait for our next adventure.  When we arrived home, I switched from my sunglasses back to my sleep mask.  My husband told me to go pack a few things for an over night trip.  I asked where we were going and my husband said "You'll see, oops, maybe you won' see".  I felt my way into the bedroom and finally found our overnight case.  Packing was a little interesting, as I had no color sense right then.  When I was finished I felt my way out to the front room and was ready to go.

Before we went outside my husband put some type of metal rod in my hands.  "It's a folding cane," he said.  I had wanted to try one of these but was somewhat afraid to say so.  I had visions of trying to navigate one of these and getting lost in the process.  I was having a good time so far and just looked at it as another adventure.  As he led me out to our car, I tried to imagine what it would be like to depend on my cane alone to help me get from place to place.  The thought was a little scary, but I wanted to try it.  

We drove for quite a while.  I knew we were heading in a northern direction because I could feel the sun coming through the windows.  You know I'm getting pretty good at this blind thing!  I guess we drove for two hours or so.  When we finally pulled over we rolled the windows down and all I could hear was a gentle breeze blowing through some trees.  My husband told me to take off the glasses and put on the sleep mask.  When I got out, I was in total darkness.  I know that my hearing didn't suddenly get better, but I paid much closer attention to my other senses.  My husband knew that I wanted to try navigating with my new cane.  He told me there was a picnic table about fifty feet in front of me.  I extended my cane and started tapping.  I missed the table and finally had to have my husband tell me which way to turn.   With a little help, I finally found the table.  My husband called me and told me to walk toward the sound of his voice.  That was easy.  Then he handed me a bag and told me to go back to the table.  Before I had one hand in front of me and the other one holding my cane.  This was scary, just using the cane with my other hand holding something.  Now I finally realized why he had me put on the sleeping mask.  The table was in the shade so I couldn't feel the warmth of the sunlight.  The sunglasses let in a small amount of light and it was possible to use the intensity of the light to get directions.  With the sleepmask, I was totally blind.  I kind of preferred it that way.  After the picnic we were back in the car again.  He had me put on my sunglasses again.  I wish the sunglasses were as dark as the sleepmask.  

By now the sun was down and it was pitch black to me.  We finally stopped and he led me into a motel room.  Just inside the door I switched back to the sleepmask.  I spent about fifteen minutes feeling my way around the room.  Then my husband said to put on a nice dress and lets go to dinner.  Eating blind at home or in the woods is one thing, but in a restaurant?  I changed clothes, put my sunglasses back on and we left.  He read the menu to me and I ordered something that I thought would be fairly easy to eat.  Dinner wasn't as bad as I had imagined it would be.  After dinner we danced.  That was easy, I had no problem following his lead.  In fact, I enjoyed dancing blindfolded more than when did I can see.  We went back to the motel and had a great night.  

Morning came and it was time to pack up and head for home.  On the way we made a couple of stops.  We went to a small petting zoo where I petted the animals and tried to guess what they were by their feel.  It's not as easy as it sounds.  I was used to associating their feel with their looks.  All of a sudden I can't see them.  Going by feel alone was interesting.  Do you have any idea what a baby pig feels like?  I had no idea, but the telephone company has a park for the blind.  They have a nature walk designed for blind people.  There are all sorts of things there to feel.  My husband led me for exhibit to exhibit for the first half.  After that, I used my cane and followed the sidewalk.  I did rather well for a newly "blind" woman.  I had a great time.  I was sorry when we had to leave. When we arrived home, he pulled the car into the garage and I helped unload it.

It was beginning to seem natural having him lead me around.  To tell the truth, I really enjoyed it. That evening he told me I had fulfilled my bet and could take the blindfold off.  I didn't want to!  I told him the bet ran until the next morning.  He didn't argue about it.  We had another great night.  The next morning, when he had to go to work I told him I would wait until he left to take off the sleepmask and patches.  After he left for work, I got this crazy idea to do all my housework blindfolded.  I didn't know if he left any of the shades open so I had to go around to each window and feel the curtains.  Then I dropped something on the floor.  It would have been so easy to remove my blindfold and find it, but I spent ten minutes on my hands and knees feeling around for it. When I finally found it, I was proud of my self for doing it blind.  It was interesting trying to remember where everything was, but I managed to get it all done.  Not necessarily in record time, but I did get it done. 

It was finally timed to see again.  I sat on the couch and took off the sleeping mask.  Then I carefully peeled off the patches.  This was the first time since Friday night I had opened my eyes.  I had this crazy thought. I have no desire to be blind, but at the same time I wish I could have remained blindfolded a little while longer.  I know that I'll get my wish, my husband was really turned on by his "blind" wife and I was really turned on by being a little helpless and dependent on him.  Besides that, just think how much electricity I saved by not turning on any of the lights all day long!  I think, a couple days a week, I'll do my housework blindfolded.  

The patches, sleepmask and painted sunglasses are a little awkward, I wonder if they make solid, opaque contact lens?  Hmmmmm............

A Blindfold Enthusiast