class at the mall!

I learned a lot today, like that there are secret tunnels in the mall and if you really get desperate elevator doors can be forced open. Today was also really fun, seeing a route from start to finish, from where the bus would drop you off to a specific store. I really enjoyed trying to figure out the most efficient way for a blind person to get from one point to the other, it felt like real mobility! Not that what we have been doing wasn't 'real' mobility, but being out in public, seeing a more concrete hypothetical situation was a great experience. I know this sounds corny, but it kind of felt like solving a puzzle, trying to get all the pieces to fit together in the best possible way. I also liked that we looked into other possible routes to the same location, changing everything from which way to cross the street at the bus stop, to using stairs or the elevator.
The escalate was weirder that harder than I thought it would be. So many times when I am out with friends and I get on one I don't really look down, I just step out. Today getting on it going down was deceivingly easy, it just kind of carried me away. But after being reminded that there was a possibility that it could crew up my shoes as well as my toes, I felt a little anxious. Like I mentioned earlier today I had a bad childhood experience with a babydoll getting her legs amputated by an escalator, and as I got closer to the bottom all I could picture in my mind was the old dolls shredded melted lower half. Anyway, Micky is right, freaking out and jumping around at the bottom is worse and more dangerous than just taking a big confident step. It did help once I used Katie's cane. I have learned a lot using my cane, and so when it told me I was almost at the end I trusted it completely.