Dialogue in the Dark

This week we had a two day meeting of the Diversity and Inclusion Council for the bank. Most of it was super interesting and enjoyable - great people, great conversation - but one part really stood out. We did something called Dialogue in the Dark. Apparently it was started by a guy in Germany, and he franchised it, and it has turned into museums and activities all around the world to raise awareness about visual impairment.

When you arrive you get a white cane, and then you basically enter a dark room, and you're told to find your way in. You don't know where you're going, what you'll do when you get there, or anything. It was so scary. I'm super afraid of the dark - it's not in my control, something can jump out at me, it's a really vulnerable feeling. At the beginning I felt weak and scared, and I hated it. We stood in one spot (waiting for everyone to come in) for a long while, and I thought I was going to pass out. I kept practicing my yoga breathing. I asked a super top level Korean banker if I could keep my hand on his shoulder. Quite uncomfortable! Though, once we settled down at our tables and started doing our exercises, I closed my eyes, stopped trying to see, and I was able to just relax and enjoy.

I was surprised at how vulnerable I felt. I was surprised at how hard some things were - like knowing where the room ends, or really understanding what something looked like without seeing it. But...I was also surprised at how quickly we learned to cope and relax. We were mostly successful, and we were happy with not being perfect but getting the job done. People's personalities really came out. The woman who talked a lot in the meetings REALLY seemed to talk a lot in the dark. The quiet people were REALLY quiet. The problem solver solved all of the problems, etc.

In the end, the woman who ran the program (and was extremely condescending, since she was speaking to a bunch of senior level bank executives, and she talked to them like they were little children) said, "now, don't you want to meet the people who guided you through everything? Then you can see who they are!" Well, yes, frankly I did want to meet Halimi (who was super great), but what she called "meeting" is really "seeing" and those blind people don't ever get to "meet" anyone according to her definition. I didn't like that at all.

We had all of the visually impaired people tell us about their banking experiences and what we could do as a bank to support them better. Some interesting points:

• Most of them did not read Braille. Especially the ones who became blind at a later age...they just never learned
• There are computer programs that "read" the screen and help them navigate on the web, so internet anything is useful to them
• The computer programs cost about US$1,000, though...
• The iPhone, which I would think is super unfriendly to visually impaired people is the phone of choice. Even though it has a touch screen and no identifiable keys, it has special software, and they love it.
• ATMs (or other services) don't need headphones. They said that all blind people walk around with headphones, so you just need a jack, and they can plug in

Anyways - it was "eye opening." Great experience. Highly recommended.