I often get asked this question, and two instances stand out:

  • This one was when i was in secondary school (or high school). I and my friends were going somewhere on foot, and they stopped to buy something. As usuall, my white cane was with one of them. Seeing that I know the road and I am already on a pavement (walkway), I decided to continue walking without a guide. A couple of steps later, I bumped into someone. His first reaction was:

    Are you blind?

    I was like:

    Yes.

    After some convincing by my friends, he realised I was truly blind and the table turned on him.

  • This next one was very recent. I was in a hall with a couple of people, and someway, somehow my phone fell. And then boom someone goes “Are you blind?”. I just ignored the question and continued using my phone. Later the person came to realise, I was truly blind.

Lesson

Try as much as possible not to ask such questions, especially to someone you don’t know. Blind people exist, and who knows, maybe the person is blind. It doesn’t border me that much, but I’m sure it is going to border some of the people that asked me.