Here’s an interesting description of a night at a blind cafe, a chance for people to simulate blindness by experiencing it (in a minor way) at a restaurant. It sounds like such a cool idea. The author is Rachel of Giggles and Musings.
Aspen Blind Cafe
Last night, I went, at the request of my mother, to an event called the Aspen Blind Café. I was a two hour event that started at 8:30pm and was dinner and a live music performance in complete darkness. When I say that you start to picture it, whether you intend to or not, but I will tell you now that you can’t. You have no idea. I went with my mom, my step- dad (Steve) and a friend of my mom’s (Kim) and her boyfriend (Brad).
We were led into the space by a blind server. He seated us at a rectangular table that sat 6. I was next to Brad and across from a woman who came alone named Sandy. From the moment that we entered the darkness, I was anxious. I was able to find the gift on my seat and sit down without incident. Although, I did think that the table was at a different angle than it ended up being, so I sat down at a funny angle. I was able to easily find my napkin and distinguish my wine and water. That part wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be and in a smart move from the organizers all the glass were short tumblers, so it wasn’t as easy to knock them over. However, what I didn’t account for is how small my world became and how much it freaked me out. While I was eating I was fine, because I was focusing on trying to cut my chicken. I ended up picking the chicken up with my hands, but I did manage to get my plate clean.
Ruined for Life: Phoenix Edition 