It was a relatively cold night (but not freezing cold) and I was out with an Italian friend, N. We starting walking from Union Square to Times Square as we attempted to burn off dinner and get some exercise.
At 32nd Street, we chanced upon a blind lady who was asking a young man for directions to the bus stop. She was yelling "Do not point! Tell me where!" (The young man wasn't pointing; she just thought he was...) The young man told her she was at the bus stop and left rather abruptly.
The lady was standing quite a distance from the bus stop (near the inner edge of the pavement, instead of the outer edge, next to the street). N and I stopped and hesitated for a moment before N started approaching the lady to offer help. I stood and watched. (I really don't fancy approaching people, anyone.)
At this time, some people started gathering as they wished to help. (She has a very obvious walking stick.) N asked the lady which bus she wanted to take and the blind lady retorted that she wanted someone who spoke English. (My friend is White, Italian and has a slight Italian-English accent. We finally decided to call it a 'foreign accent'.)
An African-American lady then asked the blind lady what she needed and she said that she didn't ask for help and knew where the bus stop was. She pointed at N, and said she did not need people of that kind to help and did not ask for her (N's) help. (My friend extra approached her to help.) Upon hearing that, the African-American lady decided that she could be of no help and I also started pulling my friend away. I was rather pissed and did not want to help that kind of people.
As we walked away, the African-American lady apologized to N for the blind lady's behavior. She reassured N that her English was fine and that the blind lady's comments were unwarranted. She related to us that she was across the street when she heard the blind lady's "excuse me" and rerouted to help. She said that after this incident, we all (me included) are blessed for the whole of 2009. She made both N and I say out loud that we would have a blessed 2009.
N was somewhat shattered to hear that 'she-did-not-speak-English'. Well, English was not her first language but she spoke perfectly fluent English, French, and, of course, Italian. N, being the paranoid, guiltier sort, was worried that the blind lady could not get her bus. The African-American lady and I told her that the lady would be fine and we went on our way after more well wishes.
I just found this incident extremely ironic. If the blind lady (Caucasian) could see, she would notice that my friend is of European descent. (She is white as white can be, with a sharp ang moh nose that made me ask her whether her nose was real. Yes, the totally politically-incorrect-me actually asked that question.) On the other hand, the blind lady was open to accepting help from the African-American lady as she has the typical American accent. Well, for once, discrimination was not due to skin color but due to accents.
I really do not know how I should feel about this incident. I feel bad for the blind lady (she is blind, duh). She reminds me of the bitter old man (Al Pacino) in Scent of a Woman. But being blind does not give her to right to be a bigot. Well, it is her life, her choice.
Oh. And this was not the first time I was 'rescued' by African-American women in NYC... For another blog entry.
