Unexpected Lessons from the Blind Cafe
Saturday, October 03, 2015
We do not live in that world, but the Blind Cafe is trying to get us there.
Yesterday the GoLocal team went to the Alberta Abbey where the Blind Cafe set up its traveling dining experience in Portland. Upon entering, there are a few rules everyone must follow to allow for this experience to happen: turn off your cell phone, go to the bathroom before the show starts, and be open to a potentially life-changing experience.
It is important to note that the Blind cafe, though part of its mission is to raise awareness for blindness, is not attempting to simulate what it is like to be blind. Instead, it is trying to facilitate a space for open dialogue between diners, blind staff, and yourself.
Going in with little understanding of how dark pitch blackness actually is, it was startling to find out how disorienting and claustrophobic a space can feel without the presence of light. According to the facilitators, it is not uncommon for people to feel scared or uncomfortable when they first enter the cafe. But rather than trying to suppress this discomfort, the experience asks that participants use this moment to allow whatever thoughts and emotions come up for them.
The night was divided into three parts: dinner, Q & A, and music.
Dining in the Dark
After being guided to your table, you are pretty much left alone to figure out what to do next. It is up to diners to introduce themselves to table mates and to find out where their plates and utensils are and even what food they are eating. All of this is surprisingly difficult to do without sight. For instance, most people at the table didn’t realize the utensil was already on the plate rather than next to it, and were waiting for some instruction on when to eat.
Something strange, though, happens in the darkness as time passes. You begin to relax. You forget that you are eating and conversing without your eyesight. Other senses keep you present. You notice how far away your foot is from someone else’s under the table yet you don’t feel self-conscious when you accidentally brush it. In this darkness, a feeling of security takes the place of the initial panic at having lost a sense. You eat, laugh, and discover how to hold a conversation with someone without ever making eye contact.
Social conventions transform as well when you realize that perhaps rather than fumbling around with your spoon to get the last bites of food from your plate, you find it’s much simpler to bring your plate to your mouth in order to finish your meal. This very action that is frowned upon to do in a normal restaurant becomes a useful way to eat in the protective cover of darkness. Without worrying about the food that might be sticking to your face, you can focus more on the conversation you are having with your fellow diner.
Candid Questions
The night continued with a group discussion Q & A. Diners announced themselves and asked the blind staff questions they had relating to the Blind Cafe and to blindness in general. The staff shared personal anecdotes about their own experiences with blindness, with stories ranging from their experiences with discrimination to their favorite hobbies and family life. Questions seemed unrestrained - the intimacy of the darkness emboldening people to have a more frank discussion on how blindness affects people’s lives.
So what is it like being blind? Blind people are not so much limited by their diminished eyesight as they are mistreated by people who underestimate what they are capable of. The staff spoke to doing the same things that many people who aren’t blind do, including going on bike rides and changing diapers, and even doing things that many people with perfect eyesight still won’t do like skydive and extensive camping trips.
Brian Rocheleau, one of the speakers at the Blind Cafe, finished the Q & A with a spoken word poem about the reality of being disabled in America. His poem highlighted the invisibility felt by those excluded by ablism in our society and was just as candid in its discussion of blindness as the Q & A.
Mini Concert
Rosh & The Blind Cafe Orchestra performed after the Q & A portion of the night. The band played soft guitar & vocals-driven songs about love, rejection, and unity. The lyrics revolved around the concept of light, which was telling of what was to come. Rosh invited the audience to stand up and sing along to the chorus of the last song. The audience obliged. What resulted was a unifying experience of dancing, singing, and laughter. The room filled with the kind of energy that could only erupt after spending two hours in the dark with a group of strangers.
After the song, Rosh laid down his guitar, stood in the center of the room, asked us if we were ready and then lit a tea light in his hand. The room, as he described in that moment, appeared to “wake up from a collective dream.” This awakening was truest in its figurative meaning.
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