Great things about being blind. Driving my boss's car.

Yesterday, I talked about tulia wanting to drive a car and I told you that I drove my boss's car.


I did this just after I turned 16 which was the legal driving age here at that time.

I was working as a camp counsellor at a camp for kids aged 6 to about 12 I think.

The camp was located on a river and there was a long gravel road to get from the highway to the camp itself.

I was working away when someone came from the office and said that the boss wanted to see me. I was a fairly new camp counsellor and wondered if I had done somethingn wrong. We almost never got called to the office. I walked over there and I was pretty frightened as I tapped along with my white cane. When I got there, he said, "I understand that you are now 16." I said that I was. "so. You're of age to drive a car?" This puzzled me a little. I doubted that anyone would want me to take the 6-year-olds in my charge driving. I said that I was. "so. Have you ever driven a car?" "No." "would you like to drive my car?" "Oh yes."

So, off we went. He said that I could drive it out to the highway and then he would turn it around and I could drive back in.

It was great fun!

No mishaps either. When I was drriving back in, a group of my fellow counsellors were sitting on the picnic table. You know how sometimes people glance up to see who is driving? Well, one of my friends glanced up, looked at the car, and matteroffactly said, "Oh! Kim's driving." then, she thought, there isn't something right with this picture. then, she screamed, "Oh Kim is driving." And they all jumped up and followed the car calling out to us.

It really was a highlight of that summer.

The next summer, I also worked there.

II was the first blind person they ever hired. At the end of the second summer, I told my boss that he was the only one ever to let me drive a car.

He asked if I wanted to do it again so we did.

No one else has ever let me drive since.

He had a lot of faith in me and hired me when others were sceptical.

He let me go through the counsellor in training program.

He was always open minded and wonderfully natural.

A great first boss to have and the icing on that particular cake was driving his car twice!

Thanks to him wherever he is now!