myself, are able to realize how meaningful thisexperience is. As a child I developed a close relationship withmy blind grandmother, similar to that between his wife andRobert. My grandmother would often run her fingers over my face,which would make me feel awkward and uncomfortable at first. As Ibecame an adult though, I began to realize the importance thisact held for my grandmother, and eventually for myself. Touching,for the blind, becomes a vital aspect of relating with the world.To touch something is to see it with your fingers. It was mygrandmother's way of becoming familiar with me through her handsinstead of her eyes. His wife had experienced this emotionalcloseness with Robert, while he could only try to understand itby hearing and reading about it. Without personally knowing anyone who is blind, theimagination takes over and preconceived ideas are formed. Thisman had created a picture in his mind of what Robert would looklike, and how he would act. When Robert arrived at his house helearned that none of his assumptions were correct. Robert didn'twear the typical dark glasses, or walk with a cane. Even withoutthe cane Robert didn't move slowly like he thought he would. Hehad read somewhere that blind people didn't smoke, but Robert notonly smoked cigarettes, they also enjoyed some laughs togetherwhen he introduced Robert to "dope" (Carver 104). As it turnedout, Robert wasn't so humorless after all. He was also surprisedto see that Robert wore a full beard and was dressed well, evenlooking, "spiffy" (101). When he turned the TV on, to his wife'sirritation, they both learned that not only did Robert own twoTV's, but he preferred to watch the color one. When he realizedthat his assumptions about Robert were false, and that theyactually shared some things in common, he began to feel morecomfortable with the blind man, even being, "glad for thecompany" (Carver 105). Once the misconceptions of blindness are revealed by knowi...
