Word After Word

When you see a person, I think their face is, for you, like the tab part of a file folder. The contents are labeled, the face is the answer of a person. 

When a face blind person sees another human, it’s like being presented with a non-tabbed file folder. A folio. No label. The answer is hidden inside. When we see a folder/human we know it’s a folder, that’s clear. It’s a human, obviously. But which folder? What’s inside? Who is it? It’s not always instantly clear. There’s not a label, a quick brief answer. We face blind people have to open the folder.  We have to root around. We have to figure out what the folder should be labeled by examining the contents.  

If the folder is scarred, superbly wrinkled, or stands out in some other consistent, flagrant way, we can tell you who it is; the lack of a label isn’t important. Weird people are beloved. Radical non-comformists: you are doing the face blind community a daily public service. Freaks, we love you! We need you! Freaks of the world untie!  (sic)