Buying blindly at the supermarket

 

You got it!  This is exactly what happens if I go shopping at the supermarket and have to depend on the staff there to help me.  If I go with mom or a friend it is a bit different.  They know what I need and they take their time telling me what's on sale and describing various products to me.  However, for the staff at the supermarket it is very different.  They often do not have time to help me in such detail but at the supermarket where I shop they are as good as can be.

 

For the last 25 years, I have been shopping at the same supermarket; the Metro supermarket at the Bridlewood Mall in Toronto and on the whole they have come to know what I need and they are very good at describing things to me and telling me what's on sale.  I am luckier than most of my fellow blind folks because I have been told when often time when they visit the supermarket to do their shopping they literally have to trust blindly.  They have to trust the staff to tell them things like:  What's on sale, whether or not the desired produce or meat looks good, whether or not the things that they are looking for are available, and similar things to what they are seeking.

 

It's one thing to go in with a shopping list and having one when you go in sure cuts down on time for both blind person and staff member but when it comes to filling one's basket with one's goods; here's where the fun and nervousness come together.  Blind persons literally have to trust blindly and have to expect that any of the following can and do often occur:  They come home with exactly what they set out to buy.  They come home with not exactly what they set out to buy because the staff member may either have substituted something for something else or mistakenly put in something different.  They come home with things missing because the staff member either forgot to find it or could not have been bothered.

 

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your accessibility and special needs business consultant wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and help educate your supermarket about the needs of blind and visually impaired customers.

Visit www.nfb.org or www.acb.org to learn more.