What is life like for a person with no or low vision? Can they be independent? I started this blog years ago in hopes of answering this question. It’s up to you whether you believe it’s possible or not for a blind person to be independent. All I can do is give you a glimpse into my world. Here is a start Everyone goes grocery shopping and they need food on a daily basis to go through the day. I can’t recall whether I’ve written a post solely on grocery shopping. I know I’ve done overviews on it but not a whole entry on the matter. So sit back and watch this mundane routine unfold through the “lens”” of a blind person.
Living with a partner requires responsibility. So does living alone but in my case, it’s living with a partner. One thing that needs to be done is grocery shopping. We need food to cook. Eating out is an option, especially if you’re blind since it saves the hassle of cooking. But realistically, the average person can’t afford to eat out every day. Going out with my partner is an option for grocery shopping. Doing this means we’ll find exactly what we need at our own pace. On top of that, we can leisurely walk through the store and look at everything and possibly find things to buy that weren’t on our list. Venturing through the store is fun. And at the end of our “shopping spree” we both can carry the grocery bags, sharing the weight.
But some days it can’t be this way. Sometimes doing things alone is unavoidable for anyone. Can a blind person grocery shop alone? What can I do if there is no one around to help me? The real question is, do I need help? Or, am I capable?
Capable of what?
In this case, getting groceries. I’d say I’m capable. Let’s look at how I did my grocery shopping yesterday and then we can conclude with some problem-solving tactics or alternative solutions.
I went out yesterday evening with my cane and some empty grocery bags. The sun was out which made it a perfect setting for my outing. I walked with my cane to the bus and took public transit to Wal-Mart. Errands are more enjoyable if you put yourself in the right mindset, so before anything else, I grabbed a coffee from Starbucks. Anyway, the Wal-Mart I went to is two levels because it is attached to a shopping mall. I entered on the upper level and asked an employee at the self-check-out where the customer service desk was. She was not very helpful, which is a sad reality for blind people. She said it was downstairs and said that the escalator is “over there.” I attempted to get a proper direction from her by pointing and she said, “yes” to the vague area I pointed at with no further help. I didn’t want this to ruin my shopping experience but encounters like these can sometimes become demotivating triggers. I had to get going though, so I mentally pushed it aside and problem solved my way to the customer service desk. I found the escalator, went downstairs, asked for directions to the customer service desk at the lower-level self-check-out and was able to have someone walk me over there. At least I got better assistance downstairs. They gave me better directions but while I was clarifying them, they decided to page someone to help me walk there which made things go more smoothly. At the desk, I requested assistance with grocery shopping. They paged for someone to come and help and shockingly, within a couple minutes a staff member showed up!
I had a list on me which had what I needed written down on my phone. I showed the employee my list and told him I’d walk around the store with him while we found these products. He grabbed a shopping cart and we were on our way. Sadly, since Wal-Mart is big and a busy store, you take what you can get for assistance, which is why it is good to come prepared and know exactly what you want. It was a little time consuming, but we ended up gathering everything that was on the list. Once in the check-out line, I no longer needed assistance. This Wal-Mart I was at accepts status cards, so I was able to buy my groceries tax free. I put everything on my bed and headed back to the train. I stopped at Shoppers halfway back home and grabbed some last-minute items. I had an employee assist me there too. Shoppers is small so it’s easy to find assistance there. Just go up to the checkout counter and request someone to be paged. From there, I I was officially done my grocery shopping and headed home.
It seems straightforward. I was able to get to the grocery store and back on my own, with all the groceries I needed. Let’s narrow this down a bit more. Call this the educational section. That was the verbal motion picture, a glimpse of my grocery shopping journey, now we dissect it.
It may not even cross your mind but an important factor to consider when grocery shopping with a visual impairment, and possibly any other disability, is the weather. Dry weather is preferable and having the sun out is a bonus. Going for a walk in the rain is one thing but running errands in the rain is another. It can affect mood and motivation and it can also affect the commute itself. When you’re blind you can’t drive so if it’s raining, you need to be mindful of your groceries. There are solutions for the need to go shopping on a rainy day such as getting rides or taking taxis/Ubers, but dry weather is the best. If it’s snowing or icy, not a good idea to take public transitwhile carrying groceries as a blind person. It’s not impossible but I give this advice to motivate people to be independent. Little steps are the most important when starting the journey to independence and we don’t want to hinder those. At the end of a grocery shop, no matter the weather, don’t feel bad to call for a ride. It can be tiring navigating a grocery store and having to carry full bags of groceries after can be more tiring. If you are up to taking transit though, go for it! Both are an option. Nice thing is with getting a ride afterward though is you can put all the stuff down and get from point A to point B easily.
How did I find the customer service desk at Wal-Mart? I listened for the sound of the self-check-out and headed that direction. There, I asked a staff member to direct me to the customer service desk. Upon receiving unhelpful instructions, I walked away and kept an ear out for the sound of an escalator. If I had needed it, I could’ve asked another staff member, and continued doing so until I got the help I needed but thankfully, I was able to find the escalator easily enough on my own. Downstairs, at the next self-check-out I located, I asked for directions again. This time, without me asking, they asked someone nearby who was also an employee to guide me. At the customer service desk, I quickly cut in and asked for someone to be paged that could assist me in grocery shopping. I’m not advocating for budging in line but, in this circumstance, I wasn’t guided through the line, so I was waiting unaware I was in the wrong spot. If the question is brief, like asking for someone to be paged, I think it’s OK since the clerk can continue to help the line of customers while I wait to theside after they request someone to help me. This only takes a second. Sadly, It can take a long time for someone to show up sometimes. Occasionally, someone needs to be paged several times before anyone shows up. I was lucky this time and someone showed up quickly.
Come prepared, it makes life easy for both parties when you already have a list of what you need. It makes the shopping experience quicker and smoother. So, on my list, I had strawberries and cucumbers. I knew what kind of strawberries I needed. Thankfully, the assistant showed me a container and asked me if they were good enough. I had a say in what I wanted for that particular product. One lesson I learned was when it concerned cucumbers. They were pre-packaged baby cucumbers. Sure, they felt fine, but if they are pre-packaged, it’s best to know how they were packaged because then you’ll know how long they will be fresh for. I didn’t do that this time. For dairy, I needed milk. I told them the specific milk I wanted. It’s good to have a plan B and C, in case they aren’t familiar with the product, or they are out of stock. In this case, I wanted Milk 2 Go brand but they couldn’t understand my request. I went with Plan B and got Dairyland brand in a 1L Caron. One important thing to ask when getting dairy products is asking for their expiry date. A life hack I can share is to ask for a bottle further back to be grabbed. The further back the bottle is on the shelf the further away the expiry date is. You can write a note on your phone for any of your products’ expiry dates. It’s a good way to keep track of them. Let’s say you want something very specific: in our case, we wanted a specific brand of toilet paper. I took a picture of the packaging so that I could show it to my assistant when I went shopping. In this case, sadly, they could’nt find the product that I wanted. There are a couple options for this that I haven’t thought of in the moment. Mainly because I thought it was the same brand,different color. In the future, though, I learned I can phone someone, whether someone I know or using a third-party app like seeing AI or, my eyes. A video call will guarantee that you find what you need. Otherwise, use Plan B or buy the product at another place at another time. At the checkout counter, when I was finished shopping, I told the assistant I didn’t need them anymore. What I did was stand at the end of my shopping cart and pull it behind me while I went through the line feeling the person‘s feet in front of me with my cane. as they scanned each item, I put it into my shopping cart. After paying, I pulled to the side and bagged everything myself. Some tricks for people who haven’t gone grocery shopping on their own before: put the heavy things at the bottom first and the more delicate things on the top. This way nothing gets wrecked. I brought a couple bags even though my one bag would fit everything. It’s just easier to balance out the weight. I can’t find all the spots where shopping carts are kept so I just put it against the wall so that it wouldn’t be in anyone’s way. At the end of my grocery shopping, I personally chose to take public transit back. I knew I had everything under control. The weather was nice, and the bags weren’t too heavy. I didn’t have too many bags either. It saved money and I had a successful shopping trip.
I hope this is helpful. Yes, it is possible for blind people.to go grocery shopping on their own. Sure, I needed assistance finding my products but at the end of the day I still did it by myself without requesting help from anyone in my close circle. Requesting this assistance boosts my confidence in my independence. I can go out when I want to get what I need. Later in the future, I can make a post about external apps that can be used for grocery shopping. In this blog post I wrote about Shopping on my own with assistance from the store staff. But it is also possible for a blind person to go shopping without even an employee assisting them at a store. I can delve into that another time.
Stay tuned for more posts! I’ll attempt to write a series on my experiences with the lumbar stem cell transplant I had recently.
shalom
The Gift of Gab 