The Grunt Volunteering Series: Why Being Asked To Bring In The Sandwich Board Was The Highlight Of My First Shift

I fold the board closed before I pick it up and try to balance it under my right arm. Prior to this, the only contact I had with sandwich boards was in the middle of sidewalks, when my cane would hit them, or not noticing them at all thanks to my dog maneuvering me around them.

“Hint,” says my supervisor, Kay, who stands a few feet away.

“It has wheels.” I open the board back up.

“Do you want help or do you want to figure it out?”

“I got it.” I try sliding the board but it doesn’t wheel itself. Kay doesn’t intervene—doesn’t walk closer and start moving my hands around or giving instructions. They just stand there. I fold the board up again, and notice a metal handle on one side that my hands hadn’t found until now.

“It’s a suitcase type of sitch,” I say. I drag the board behind me as my guide dog in her harness pulls me inside the gallery.

I am working as a volunteer docent and tour guide at grunt gallery for the next few weeks, and along with providing tours of the artwork on display, I am assigned other tasks as needed. During my first shift, I brailled some labels, watered the gallery plant, Comos, and filled up the water heater, Mx. Thunder Cloud.

Image description: Jinnie—a woman with shoulder length dark hair, light brown skin, and a jewel blue long sleeved shirt—sits at a table covered with objects. They work to remove the backing from a braille sticker. To their right is a dollhouse and tactile 2D map.

Near the end of my shift, my supervisor asked if I would like to bring in the sandwich board from outside and I immediately said yes..

So many times in my life—just because I am blind—it was expected that I couldn’t  complete tasks that required me to move around, lift heavy things, climb a ladder or stairs, etc. Sure, it is easier to have assistance in some cases, such as going up and getting food in an unfamiliar place where I wouldn’t know what each dish holds. But there is a difference between me asking for help in a situation that may not be ideal verses others making assumptions about what I can or cannot do. The first provides me with a choice on the type of support I may need, while the latter takes the choice away from me. There have been times during projects when I  asked if I could help hang something or asked people if I could help move  tables and the response—though out of trying to be mindful of my abilities—was usually “Don’t worry,” “It’s all good,” or “You don’t have to.” Even though it was never explicitly stated, I knew that it was—for the most part, as I am sure some people truly mean that they just don’t need help— because people thought they shouldn’t or couldn’t ask the blind girl to do such a task. They assumed it would be too hard for me, or perhaps I could injure myself. Maybe I would  fall.

But so could a sighted person.

I never just jumped in to help when people were moving tables,even though I knew that’s usually what sighted people do, but I have thought about it only  if I knew how exactly things were supposed to be set up.

And that’s just it.

The first time will not be pretty. Until I feel something and explore how it moves and operates like the sandwich board, I won’t ever have a sense of how it works. Whereas for sighted individuals, they can watch someone do something or can scan the entire item rather than learning the whole from the parts. They feel they are often faster and more graceful when it comes to these things. As a result of this, a sighted person may want to jump in as it may seem as if I am struggling, or perhaps they think it will simply be faster and yes, it probably will be faster but not for long. If I did help to set up tables, someone would have to direct me for the first time to show me where things go, so it would take longer. However, the second time it wouldn’t be the same because I would know what to do after being shown the first time. Now that I know what the sandwich board looks like, where the handle is, and that it has wheels, I will be quick about it rather than fiddling with it for a minute or two. And if I ever can’t do something or can’t help out because it is not in the scope of my abilities, it is my job to say so.

*I position the board out of the way of the door and switch over the panels on each side so that they are ready for the next day. I notice some chips and splinters in the corner of the board and as I stand upright again I look towards Kay and say, “I think the corners need some sanding.”

“Maybe I’ll get you to paint it next week.”

I smile. They trust me.

by Harjinder “Jinnie” Saran

*Jinnie will be starting to provide tours of the art on display at grunt gallery beginning May 21st. No RSVP is required, and tours will be every Wednesday until June 11th at 4 PM and 6 PM.

Visit grunt gallery’s website at https://grunt.ca/