^ That. Also, just like there is defensive driving there is defensive moving. I made up that expression because I don't know how else to describe it.
When I walk on sidewalks and on paths in the park, I stay to the edge on the right so if someone I can't hear needs to pass me they can. If I need to pass someone I look behind me first to make sure I'm not going to knock into someone.
When I was first on my own I noticed that I kept making people angry in the grocery stores. So I thought about it and made some changes. I started keeping to the edge of the aisle and, if I stopped to look over some new brands or types of foods, would look around every so often to see if anyone was nearby. It worked. I generally don't leave a trail of angry people behind me in stores anymore, and I haven't for a long time.
I feel very strongly about this. I don't believe that D/d/HoH people are more accident prone. Its all about being observant and picking up good habits. And if you make a mistake, learn from it.
When I was a teen ager I didn't turn off a faucet. Once. When I first started living on my own I turned on the kitchen sink and found out that the apartment building's water had been turned off. I didn't think about turning my faucet off though. Disaster issued later when the building's water was turned back on and I didn't hear it. But both those things only happened once.
There are a lot of hearing people out there with stupid attitudes and beliefs. D/d/HoH people shouldn't:
- live alone
- travel alone, or even together if everyone traveling is D/d/HoH
- drive *
I've had co-workers express shock when they found out that I drive on vacations. (I live in NYC and its too hard to own a car where I live, so that's why the subject of driving doesn't come up more often.) I had a manager tell me before I want on a camping trip where everyone would be either d or HoH that it "sounded dangerous." I mean, really?
I know that it can be tough being D/d/HoH in a world where the majority is hearing and that a major reason we are here is to validate our feelings. But I feel really strongly about this particular topic. D/d/HoH are not more accident prone than any other groups of people.
Many hearies have stupid opinions about us, there's no reason to give them any ammunition! /mini-rant over
* According to the author Henry Kisor of the book,
What's That Pig Outdoors -- insurance companies use to charge deaf people lower car insurance premiums because their driving records were so much better than hearing drivers.
But the companies had to stop this practice after the 1950s because this kind of price discrimination became illegal.
