May 20, 2026 • 28 mins
Lizzie Eastham and Sam Rickard present Studio 1 - Vision Australia Radio’s weekly look through a different lens.
On this week’s show
“Dining Out”
This week Lizzie and Sam look at the pitfalls; social no-nos and workarounds when it comes to eating out when you have a disability. Does mood-lighting give you a bad mood? How do the staff talk to you when they find out you have a Disability... and indeed do people with a Vision Impairment have it easy when compared to others out there?
Studio 1 welcomes any input from our listeners. If you have any experience or thoughts about issues covered in this episode or believe there is something we should be talking about.
You may also be interested in joining our choir of angels and telling your story.
EMAIL: studio1@visionaustralia.org or leave comment on the station’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/VARadioNetwork
A special thank you to Heidi; Debbie; Shaun; Stephen and Emma.
This program was made possible with support from the Community Broadcasting Foundation. Find out more at https://cbf.org.au/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:14):
This is studio One with Sam Rickard and Lizzy Eastham
on Vision Australia Radio.
S2 (00:24):
Hello, I'm Sam and I'm Lizzy and this is studio One,
your weekly look at life through a different lens here
on Vision Australia Radio this week.
S3 (00:32):
Eating out. While fun, it can be tricky.
S2 (00:36):
From the waitress who assumes you've brought the wrong set
of glasses to unreadable menus and mood lighting.
S3 (00:41):
And don't get us started on blind people trying to
eat spaghetti.
S2 (00:44):
We ask a few friends about the pitfalls and workarounds
of dining out.
S3 (00:48):
As we always say at this point, please do get
in touch with the show. Whether you have experience of
any of the issues covered on this week's episode of
Studio One, or if you think there's something we should
be talking about, you never know. Your story and insight
may help someone who's dealing with something similar.
S2 (01:03):
You can contact us via email studio 1@australia.org. That's studio
number one at vision australia.org.
S3 (01:09):
Or of course, you can drop us a note on
the station's Facebook page by going to facebook.com/va Radio Network.
S2 (01:19):
Hello, Lizzie.
S3 (01:20):
Hello, Sam.
S2 (01:21):
So it's not been a particularly eventful week. Nothing much
has really happened.
S3 (01:25):
Nothing much at all. One could say it's been rather
quiet on the Western Front.
S2 (01:29):
That's right. And there's those pigs flying again. All right.
So it would be silly of us not to mention
the budget, because the decisions that came out of it
and the announcement a week earlier regarding the NDIS are
well worth talking about. I don't know about you, but
I'm in two minds about all of this.
S3 (01:49):
Honestly. I've had so many people commenting on the new
budget and the new legislation that's coming in. I'm confused.
I don't really have an opinion worth talking about here
on air, because I am not clear on what exactly
has been decided and how it will impact us, but
(02:11):
I do know that it's rather negative that it's it's
caused quite a lot of uproar, and we are working
on getting someone with a bit more expertise onto the show.
S2 (02:21):
We are indeed. It's emails at 20 paces at the
moment as we try and chase down a few people
from different organisations and see if they want to have
a chat with us.
S3 (02:29):
But also, you know, if you want to keep your
comments coming in through the WhatsApp group, through Facebook, through
whichever medium you've been using to leave your comments about
the budget, please do so because, I mean, if we
get enough of them, we could definitely build a show
around it and it might give the experts more incentive
to come on and clarify or, you know, just talk
(02:50):
about the changes in general.
S2 (02:52):
But we are not talking about the NDIS this week.
We're not and we're not talking about the budget this week. No,
we are talking about something a little less strenuous.
S3 (03:04):
But definitely just as messy, though.
S2 (03:06):
Just as messy though. Yes, that is blind people eating out.
First I want to talk actually to my wife Heidi,
who has her own workarounds. Let's put it this way
for eating out at some places. So how do you
find eating out?
S4 (03:22):
I love it. It's one of my favorite things to do.
S2 (03:24):
Uh, are there any bugbears though? That or traps that
you've come across that you want to share with us?
S4 (03:30):
There's been many a time when we've got to the restaurant.
We get given the menu and I'm reading it and
how should we put it? Uneducated waitstaff might say, oh,
did you forget your glasses? Because I'm looking so closely
at it, which I just straight out say, no, I'm
vision impaired and just leave it at that. I don't,
(03:52):
I don't usually like to. I could make them uncomfortable
if I wanted to, but I'd rather not.
S2 (03:56):
As far as menu goes though, you've got a few
tips and suggestions to the weary traveler.
S4 (04:01):
Yes, as long as you know where you're going and
they have a website, more often than not, that website
will have their menu on it. So I actually do
some free research, so to speak, and have a look
at what's on the menu that I've got an idea
of what they've got. And then I'm I'll make a
(04:21):
few choices in my head and then on the day
or night, make a decision then as to what I want.
I'll still skim the menu when we get there, but
I'll have it in my mind what they have and
what I want to order.
S2 (04:34):
What about other facilities? Um, we do have problems, for example,
finding where the toilets are or the, uh, sometimes where
to get the drinks or the food.
S4 (04:45):
I guess you've just got to be upfront with the
wait staff when they seat you just ask them, you know,
is it table service or do we need to to
go up and order? Um, if so, where do we
need to go? Toilets is an interesting one. I'm usually
pretty good at sussing out the, the signage. It's usually, um,
(05:06):
at the top of a corridor of sorts. So yeah,
I'm pretty, I'm pretty good with that. But um, again,
I'm not, I'm not scared to ask where they are either.
S2 (05:15):
Have you been forced at all to use the disability toilet?
S4 (05:18):
Forced probably isn't the right word, but I've been in
a situation where I might not be able to find
the regular female toilet, and I see the disability toilet
there and think, well, you know what? I really need
to go, so I'm just going to be quick about it.
S2 (05:34):
Is there anything you will not eat when you're out
and about?
S4 (05:38):
Uh, I don't like eating pasta of the sort of
longer type, as in spaghetti or fettuccine, because I know
I'm going to make a mess. Also, I'm not ever
going to order a whole lobster, just in case the
waitstaff leave you to try and crack it open yourself. Well, yes,
there was this.
S2 (05:57):
Incident in Singapore with some satays I seem to remember.
S4 (06:02):
Do we have to talk about that? Oh, yes. So
we were at a well-known marketplace in Singapore, where they're
very well known for lots of vendors selling satay. So
meat on a stick, basically. And yes, you and I
chose a place to sit and I saw that they
had prawn satays. So I said, well, I'm going to
(06:23):
get those. But I didn't know. Is that they came
to you a whole prawn on a stick, which you
had to peel yourself, and it was all in satay sauce.
So needless to say, yes, a very messy experience. And yes,
I didn't enjoy them nearly as much as I thought
I would.
S2 (06:42):
Are you going to order them again?
S4 (06:44):
No.
S2 (06:47):
All right. Do you have any suggested workarounds as the, uh,
the wise old lady of total blindness?
S3 (06:54):
Well, less of the old. Thanks, Sam. You know, I
would just agree with Heidi. You know, do your research.
If you can find a menu on the website. That's good.
I do have apps that will scan the menu for
me and read it, but they are fiddly and complicated,
and it actually involves taking a picture of the menu,
which depending on the lighting and the angle of the
camera doesn't always work out.
S2 (07:15):
Mhm.
S3 (07:17):
I was out with a couple of friends at a
country and Western meet at the end of last year,
and a friend of mine had met her glasses, and
she used that to read the menu. And they were
really good because it scanned the whole thing. And it
was like, yeah, there's sides ranging from this price to
this price, and it was really comprehensive. So if you
got glasses, my tip is use them. I don't have them.
S2 (07:39):
So it's becoming more and more a case that these
things aren't just a want. They're a need. You know,
like we were at the start of the show talking
about the NDIS. Well, um, if they're starting to cut back,
maybe looking, looking at getting a set of these things,
because the more I hear about them, the more I
think I need them.
S3 (07:54):
Well, the NDIS doesn't fund them anyway.
S2 (07:56):
Well, I've heard of some people that have.
S3 (07:58):
Claimed I know, so have I. But you know, Steven's
been fighting for months to get some.
S2 (08:02):
Well, uh, it depends on who you get. And I
think that's part of what they're trying to actually fix anyway.
In the meantime, who are we talking to next?
S3 (08:09):
I believe we're talking about Debbie. And by the way,
she's got a challenge for us.
S5 (08:15):
Well, Lizzie, I find spaghetti one of the easiest dishes
to eat, because what I do is I get it,
and I cut several times from top of the plate
or bowl to the bottom of the bowl towards yourself.
And I do that several times across the bowl or
the plate, and then I turn it around and cut
(08:37):
the other way. So you're cutting all the little pieces
of spaghetti into smaller amounts, smaller sizes, and then you
still twirl it around your fork like you would any
other time. And you don't normally end up with too
much dangling down and you're having to slurp it up.
(08:58):
So that's how I eat my spaghetti when I go out.
And I do here at home as well when I
make it myself. So yeah, it's one of the easiest
things to order. And I do order Singapore noodles all
the time too, and I just twirl them around the fork.
They're quite easy to eat as well. Chicken wings if
you order them. Well, that's finger food anyway, so you
(09:19):
don't worry about eating them with your fingers. I quite
often order a seafood basket, and I pick everything up
in my fingers whether I'm out or not, or like
I go to the RSL club on a Sunday and
I usually get a seafood basket there, and I eat
everything with my fingers because it's all little bits of seafood. See,
(09:40):
apart from the piece of fish. But I still pick
that up with my fingers, too. Otherwise, you're trying to
cut that on top of everything else. So I just
eat everything with my fingers and be done with it.
And no one complains. No one worries about it.
S2 (09:59):
We stand corrected. It is possible to eat noodles and
spaghetti without looking like a total fool. Fool. Um.
S3 (10:08):
I actually shared the tip too on the WhatsApp group
that if you go to faster pasta And I don't
know if faster pasta is a thing in the rest
of Australia. I know it used to be, but in
in here in Adelaide, it's a big thing. It's a
chain you can get, say if you order a bolognese,
for example, you can get penne pasta or spiral like
(10:29):
you can order different types of pastas. You don't have
to have spaghetti. So if that's an option, you know,
if you go to an Italian restaurant or something, then
just ask for the spirals or the penny.
S2 (10:40):
Something different, something that's a bit more user friendly.
S3 (10:42):
Yeah, exactly. And that's my workaround.
S2 (10:45):
The other interesting thing she was talking about seafood as well.
And um, I from memory, um, from people that I've
known in the past, usually the first thing you find
when you're eating fish or seafood of some sort with
a fork is the lemon.
S3 (10:59):
Ah, yes. Yes. Well, I mean that's a thing that
I think everyone's had, you've got something on your fork
and you think, oh jolly. Oh here we go. You
bite into it and it's a lemon.
S2 (11:09):
Mhm. All right. So we've had a fairly long conversation
with your husband and Shawn. Ever reliable. Um, this will
be in several parts, however.
S3 (11:19):
Yes. Um, I will just preface this by saying this
conversation was quite chaotic. It was recorded on a Monday
morning and it it's about as chaotic as you'd imagine. Shawn,
apart from money being the obvious thing that stops most
of us from dining out, what are some of the
(11:39):
things that that you don't like about dining out?
S6 (11:42):
Well, the accessibility of the menus is one thing.
S3 (11:45):
What do you do to get around that?
S6 (11:47):
Well, that depends. If you've got someone like a support
worker who can, you know, who can assist, and they'll
read the menu for you if you ask them. But
if you're out on your, on your lonesome, it's a
little bit harder.
S3 (12:01):
If I remember correctly, you and Katrina went to the
Bridgeway for Valentine's Day when she came down from the US.
And you were alone, right?
S6 (12:10):
Yes.
S3 (12:11):
How did you navigate the menu and going up to
the counter to order and things like that on that occasion.
S6 (12:17):
We were lucky enough to have someone help us to
navigate the restaurant, first of all, and give us an
idea of what was on the menu. One of the
wait staff, which is, I think, part of their thing.
There are a lot of wait staff don't like to
do it, but it's the thing that has to be
done if you haven't got accessible menus.
S7 (12:39):
Well, I had a volunteer showing me how to do
something very clever because I. Most menus are the writing on.
It's very small. Uh, sometimes when we've been out with volunteers,
I'd read the menu, but with my particular ADHD or whatever,
I can't take in what some people say, especially when
there's lot of noise going on. So I got to
read it myself. So what I'd do is get the
camera out on my phone and zoom in on the
(13:00):
menu and read it that way. When we got a
group of people, the time to read the menu to
other people. Yes.
S3 (13:04):
So how do you generally find the wait staff act
towards you? Not so much if you go out with
a group of other sighted people. But if you are alone,
or perhaps with another blind or visually impaired people.
S6 (13:14):
Let's be real. It's a crapshoot. It really is. It's
a crapshoot. You might get a good one one day
and you might get a cantankerous old biddy the next.
S7 (13:22):
You know, I agree with that.
S3 (13:23):
What are some things that waitresses or waiters do in
these establishments that really annoy you the most?
S6 (13:29):
My favorite is the Old Faithful, that most people do
talk slowly or talk loudly thinking you're deaf.
S7 (13:39):
What is the rack off and leave you with no
napkins or cutlery out to bring in your food? Sometimes
I bring that stuff out first. Sometimes I've been to
a few places to sit down and bring all the
food and stuff. Are you going to get up and
go find them cut off?
S6 (13:51):
Yeah, although they give you any bloody condiments.
S7 (13:54):
Yes.
S3 (13:55):
We had this the other day. Right. Megan and I
were out, and Megan was off getting a glass of water,
and this lady brought our food over and just dumped
it in the middle of the table and didn't say
which one was which or what was what. She just
dumped it in the middle of the table. And Megan's like,
good thing I can see to know what's yours and
what's mine. Or if you were here with somebody that
couldn't see very well, you're going to have a great
(14:15):
deal of trouble.
S6 (14:16):
That would be a steaming pile, wouldn't it?
S7 (14:19):
I've got one for you. We were with a group,
and I'd got about a third way through one meal,
so I need to go to the toilet. So I
get up out of the toilet, come back, and it's gone.
S6 (14:28):
Oh, rude.
S7 (14:29):
They just went around collecting all the plates. I thought,
oh well, he's had enough. Big fat pig will send
him out the door. Oh yeah. Rude, right. There's like
a foot in like $38 meal or something. And it
was like about half of it left. And I went
up and go to the toilet and come back and
the plates gone.
S6 (14:45):
I'll blow that.
S3 (14:46):
Are there any dishes or foods that you will avoid
ordering or eating when you're dining out simply because of
your vision impairment?
S6 (14:53):
Not in case of doubt. Like I won't order seafood,
anything with cabbage or that in it because cabbage has
a rather nasty effect on me.
S7 (15:04):
I've been out and ordered stuff that I really like,
like ribs. I realize you've only got 3 or 400 napkins.
You need five because you gotta use your fingers and
that sort of thing.
S3 (15:13):
Were you taught in school to use cutlery properly? Because
I know I was.
S6 (15:19):
Yeah, you bet I was. We were shown the proper
etiquette and used it.
S7 (15:24):
I will say this dining with Sean or eating. He's
had three round our place and we've been out before together.
I've never seen a totally blind person eat the way
he does with a knife and fork. And I know
it's not meant to be sounding patronising, but a lot
of people use a hand to try to feel stuff.
Sean can pick the meat off the bones of a
chicken without touching it, and I don't know how he
(15:45):
does it.
S3 (15:46):
Okay, so Stephen will avoid ribs. Sean won't avoid anything
except for just a taste of not liking it.
S7 (15:51):
I'll avoid the bill.
S3 (15:55):
I think everyone tries to avoid the bill. But again,
we did say in the beginning that money couldn't be
included in the list of gripes. It had to be
things other than that.
S2 (16:05):
Well, there are a few things to cover there. I mean, waitstaff,
for example, is the classic one. And as we said
at the head of the show, um, it seems to
be less common now, but I have had it in
the past where someone, when I'm reading the menu and
someone says, oh, didn't you bring the right glasses with you?
S3 (16:22):
Wow. Okay.
S2 (16:23):
And it's like, that happens, doesn't it? Yes. Um, it's not,
not the fact that I have a disability of some
sort or anything like that, and I didn't bring the
right glasses with me. Silly me.
S3 (16:33):
Oh, I know. I've had people talk to my support
worker at the counter when we've gone up to order. Now,
my support workers are pretty good in the fact that
they will generally be like, well, I don't know. Why
don't you ask Lizzie what she wants? But unfortunately, I
do have some family members that just find it easier
to try and find out what I want and answer
(16:55):
for me. And, um, I actually have said to these
family members, well, that takes away my choice and control
because we could be sitting at the table and I
could decide there and then, oh yeah, I'll go for
the chicken salad. But you know, while we're walking up,
I'm pondering it and I go, oh, actually, you know what?
I've decided I'll have the salmon. And I'm thinking this
in my head. Like I've changed my mind. I'm gonna
(17:16):
have the salmon. We get up there and they ask
my family member, oh, what does she want? And they go, oh,
the chicken salad. And then I have to be the
awkward one. That goes, well, actually, no, I've changed my mind.
I want the salmon. And could you please talk to me?
Because I'm going to be the one paying for my food. Um, yeah.
And unfortunately it's caused a lot of awkwardness with family
(17:37):
members because some of them would rather just speak for
me because it's easier. They don't want to cause a fuss.
S2 (17:43):
I could understand that. And that's, um. Yeah. Uh, you
want you want a nice meal out. You don't want
an argument. Um, the other one was accessible menus, which is, um,
a bit of a bugbear of mine because, um, some
places they don't even have a menu. It's all written
at the back behind a counter, for example. And if
they don't happen to have my monocular with me, which
(18:04):
I think a lot of you out there also don't
use a monocular. So, uh, you're only, only recourse is
to ask people what's there.
S3 (18:11):
Yeah. I mean, we've had that too. And generally, unless
we're out with sighted people, we don't even know that
there is a specials board or what's on it. Yeah.
And don't even get me started on takeaway restaurants and
their silly interactive screens, because we've had that conversation on
this show before.
S2 (18:28):
Indeed. Yeah.
S3 (18:29):
But they are definitely not accessible. And as far as
I can see, or as far as I'm aware, they
haven't made any changes to make it more so.
S2 (18:38):
Well, it's probably probably better for us is that we're
not going to be eating fast food in the very
near future.
S3 (18:44):
Well, I wouldn't be caught dead in a place like
Maccas or KFC. Just send my husband out to get
it for me.
S2 (18:49):
Anyway, we will continue our conversation because, well, they had
more to say.
S7 (18:56):
I remember as a kid, when I was about 12
years old, and we were at the hotel with my
brother in law and sister, and I was using the
cane to get around. Back then there was a bit
of ribbing going around, you know, blind people and people
with disabilities in general. I was fumbling around McCain trying
to find the right toilet and end up going to
the women's store. He came out and everyone was peeing
themselves laughing.
S6 (19:17):
Thankfully, most restaurants these days have some sort of tactile
indication of which one's which. Or maybe there might even
have Braille on the bottom so you can sit there
and read it.
S3 (19:29):
Now, a lot of restaurants that you go to have,
you know, a particular mood lighting, or maybe they're trying
to set a scene with the lighting choices that they make. Sean,
I know it doesn't make any difference to you, but Stephen,
how does this affect you?
S7 (19:43):
It really does. I remember going to one of those
well to do events and the lighting there was like candlelight.
It was so dark and I'm like, I'm not going
to be able to read this menu or anything. I
could barely find my way to the bar, and that's
just annoying.
S6 (19:57):
Well, now we're on equal footing.
S3 (19:58):
Yeah, you know what? That's a good point. I specifically
will not wear white when I go out to any
sort of restaurant because I'm afraid of getting it stained.
S6 (20:07):
Ah, yeah. Now, that's the thing, isn't it?
S7 (20:09):
You can't own a restaurant without spilling something on your clothes,
aren't you?
S6 (20:12):
Yes and no. It just depends on what you're eating.
S7 (20:15):
There was a event Amy went to. She was partly hosting, actually.
She was doing a talk there and it was called
dining in the dark. And it had vision impaired people there,
but all the sighted people had to wear blindfolds.
S6 (20:26):
Oh, yeah. Those are good.
S3 (20:27):
What I'd like to know is how do the waiters
and waitresses cope in those events?
S6 (20:32):
They're the blind ones serving all the meals and things.
S3 (20:34):
Oh that's amazing.
S6 (20:36):
Yeah, that's that's what dining in the dark is all about.
S3 (20:39):
Right. Well, I want to sign up to be a
waitress at the next dining in the dark guide dogs SANT,
if you can hear me.
S2 (20:46):
Well, okay.
S3 (20:46):
Count me.
S2 (20:47):
In. Talking about the toilets, this is something I actually,
over the weekend I came across which, um, went to a, uh,
a sports bar that we've never been to before and
was looking for where the toilets were, did a whole
scout of, you know, normally there beside the door and
look beside the door, the ladies toilets were there. Great.
(21:08):
But I couldn't find the men's toilets anyway, so kept
on scouting around and found a disability toilet and went,
you know what? That's it. I'm using that. It's not
the first time I've done that as well. When the
disability toilets, the first one you find, you end up going,
you know what? I can't be bothered looking around any
more because as it turned out, yes it was. They
were in a very obvious place, just in the the
wrong corner, as it were. Have you had a similar problem? No, no.
S3 (21:31):
No.
S2 (21:31):
I'm the only one that ducks into disability.
S3 (21:33):
Toilets. Oh no. I mean, yeah, like I've used the
disability toilet, but I've never had a problem going to
the wrong toilet. I've never gone into the men's toilet
or anything like that. Usually because when I'm in public
and I need the toilet, I usually ask for assistance
and I never try to find it myself. So I
don't have any funny toilet stories. We could build a
show off that though, if you like.
S2 (21:52):
Oh indeed I do. Usually I can see enough that
I know that as soon as I enter them, I'm
in the wrong toilet. So it's a case of open
the door, there's no urinal. You can turn around, ride
it back the other way.
S3 (22:05):
You can usually tell by the smell as well. No offense.
S2 (22:08):
What's this last little bit about?
S3 (22:10):
Yeah. Now, um, Stephen and I, we have a very
funny story. And, uh, this happened shortly after we began dating.
I'll let Stephen start, I think.
S7 (22:23):
Well, do I have A Dog's tale for you about
dining in the dark? Dining in a mess, I should say.
S8 (22:28):
Oh, really?
S7 (22:29):
Well, our first official date that we went on to.
Where was it?
S8 (22:33):
Texas diner. Oh, yes, I remember this.
S7 (22:35):
We sat down. Lacy took her position underneath the table
that she does now. These were pretty light tables. I
like picnic type tables like the fold out toilet. And
that was a booth. Now, the lady had come down
and brought all the condiments and all the knives and forks. Like,
you know how we spoke about people not doing that before?
And she made sure we had all that stuff. I
get up and go up to the counter to take
(22:56):
the order and what happens? I come back and Lacy
stands up and I asked the whole table. She jumped
up suddenly and put her head up and completely overturned
the table.
S3 (23:07):
You had come back to let me know that my
card had been declined And in the chaos and confusion
that Lacey had caused, the couple sitting next to us
went up and paid for our food.
S6 (23:19):
Oh well, that's nice of them.
S3 (23:21):
So whilst it was a funny story in that Lacey
upended the table and cutlery and salt and pepper shakers
went everywhere.
S7 (23:28):
We got a free feed.
S3 (23:29):
Thanks, Lacey. I will also add that she didn't just
get up, she got up and jumped up onto the booth.
Hence why the table was upended.
S2 (23:41):
Well, okay. Um, um. Dogs and children, as it were. Right.
So that's life from a low vision and blind point
of view when it comes to eating out. What happens
if you have another disability? Well, my friend Emma over
at Powered Media has a few things to say about that.
S7 (23:56):
Oh my God, Sam.
S9 (23:58):
You would not believe it yet. Table legs are my
absolute nemesis because they don't fit wheelchairs under most tables.
And when I do get to fit in a type.
Or more often than not, it's because the two tables
have been pushed together and so on. Then taking up
(24:19):
two tables where I'm often sitting on my own. But
that's just that's just the tip of the iceberg.
S10 (24:27):
What would be your particular bugbears?
S9 (24:29):
So I can't cut up my own nails. And so
when I am out with people, it kind of depends
on the group I'm actually out with whether I'm comfortable
enough to say, hey, if I ordered this, can you
cut it up for me? And most of the time
people are more than happy to do it. But it's
(24:50):
me and my own head going, I shouldn't have to
ask people to cut up my food. I'm really embarrassed.
So I often end up ordering something that doesn't need
to be cut up, like a risotto or, um, or
a salad or, you know, just something that you can
already put on a utensil. that. In saying that a
(25:13):
lot of the time when I do eat by myself,
I prefer to face a wall. I can't eat with
my mouth closed, and that's quite embarrassing for me as well.
So in order to save general public from watching a
weird man and disabled person sitting by themselves eating like
(25:36):
an animal, I face the wall a lot of the
time and look, it's probably not as bad as I
make it out to be, but it's definitely something that
I'm self-conscious about.
S10 (25:48):
In your field of work, you'd be required to go
out and about and eat out a bit more than just,
you know, if you weren't doing your job.
S9 (25:57):
Well, as I said, Sam, if I'm at a work
conference or something like that, it depends on whether I'm
sitting next to someone who I've worked with before or
who knows me. But generally, if I'm. they asked for
dietary requirements. A lot of the time I'll put down
(26:18):
vegetarian even though I'm not vegetarian, because it's easier for
me to come up with one hand using the fork.
Like recently, I've, I've become more confident and like I'm
a creature of habit. So I go to 2 or
3 cafes and that's it. But that's also because I
(26:38):
know that I can get under the tables, but I
go to these cafes like 2 to 3 times a week.
And so the owners know me. And so I now
feel confident enough to order smashed avocado and have them
cut it up for me.
S10 (26:56):
Well, happy dining experience from now on.
S9 (26:58):
I mean, I'm from the Hunter Valley and I love food.
I live for food.
S2 (27:02):
That's a wrap for this week. A big thank you
to Heidi, Debbie, Sean, Stephen and Emma. And of course,
thank you for listening. That includes our listeners on other stations,
including the Reading Radio network.
S3 (27:13):
You can find a podcast of this program, plus some
extra content from time to time on Apple, Spotify, Google,
or your favorite podcast platform.
S2 (27:21):
Next week, we're coming to you from the roundtable on
information access for people with print disabilities.
S3 (27:27):
But between now and then, please get in touch with
the show, whether you have experience of any of the
issues covered on this week's episode of Studio One, or
if you think there's something we should be talking about,
you never know. Your story and insight may help someone
who's dealing with something similar.
S2 (27:42):
You can reach us via email at studio 1@vision.org. That's
studio number 1@vision.org.
S3 (27:48):
Or you can find us on Facebook or Instagram by
searching for VA Radio Network. We want to hear from you.
Keep those comments coming in.
S2 (27:55):
Bye for now.
S1 (27:56):
Studio one was produced in the Adelaide Studios of Vision
Australia Radio. This show was made possible with the help
of the Community Broadcasting Foundation. Find out more@kbf.org.au.
This is studio One with Sam Rickard and Lizzy Eastham
on Vision Australia Radio.
S2 (00:24):
Hello, I'm Sam and I'm Lizzy and this is studio One,
your weekly look at life through a different lens here
on Vision Australia Radio this week.
S3 (00:32):
Eating out. While fun, it can be tricky.
S2 (00:36):
From the waitress who assumes you've brought the wrong set
of glasses to unreadable menus and mood lighting.
S3 (00:41):
And don't get us started on blind people trying to
eat spaghetti.
S2 (00:44):
We ask a few friends about the pitfalls and workarounds
of dining out.
S3 (00:48):
As we always say at this point, please do get
in touch with the show. Whether you have experience of
any of the issues covered on this week's episode of
Studio One, or if you think there's something we should
be talking about, you never know. Your story and insight
may help someone who's dealing with something similar.
S2 (01:03):
You can contact us via email studio 1@australia.org. That's studio
number one at vision australia.org.
S3 (01:09):
Or of course, you can drop us a note on
the station's Facebook page by going to facebook.com/va Radio Network.
S2 (01:19):
Hello, Lizzie.
S3 (01:20):
Hello, Sam.
S2 (01:21):
So it's not been a particularly eventful week. Nothing much
has really happened.
S3 (01:25):
Nothing much at all. One could say it's been rather
quiet on the Western Front.
S2 (01:29):
That's right. And there's those pigs flying again. All right.
So it would be silly of us not to mention
the budget, because the decisions that came out of it
and the announcement a week earlier regarding the NDIS are
well worth talking about. I don't know about you, but
I'm in two minds about all of this.
S3 (01:49):
Honestly. I've had so many people commenting on the new
budget and the new legislation that's coming in. I'm confused.
I don't really have an opinion worth talking about here
on air, because I am not clear on what exactly
has been decided and how it will impact us, but
(02:11):
I do know that it's rather negative that it's it's
caused quite a lot of uproar, and we are working
on getting someone with a bit more expertise onto the show.
S2 (02:21):
We are indeed. It's emails at 20 paces at the
moment as we try and chase down a few people
from different organisations and see if they want to have
a chat with us.
S3 (02:29):
But also, you know, if you want to keep your
comments coming in through the WhatsApp group, through Facebook, through
whichever medium you've been using to leave your comments about
the budget, please do so because, I mean, if we
get enough of them, we could definitely build a show
around it and it might give the experts more incentive
to come on and clarify or, you know, just talk
(02:50):
about the changes in general.
S2 (02:52):
But we are not talking about the NDIS this week.
We're not and we're not talking about the budget this week. No,
we are talking about something a little less strenuous.
S3 (03:04):
But definitely just as messy, though.
S2 (03:06):
Just as messy though. Yes, that is blind people eating out.
First I want to talk actually to my wife Heidi,
who has her own workarounds. Let's put it this way
for eating out at some places. So how do you
find eating out?
S4 (03:22):
I love it. It's one of my favorite things to do.
S2 (03:24):
Uh, are there any bugbears though? That or traps that
you've come across that you want to share with us?
S4 (03:30):
There's been many a time when we've got to the restaurant.
We get given the menu and I'm reading it and
how should we put it? Uneducated waitstaff might say, oh,
did you forget your glasses? Because I'm looking so closely
at it, which I just straight out say, no, I'm
vision impaired and just leave it at that. I don't,
(03:52):
I don't usually like to. I could make them uncomfortable
if I wanted to, but I'd rather not.
S2 (03:56):
As far as menu goes though, you've got a few
tips and suggestions to the weary traveler.
S4 (04:01):
Yes, as long as you know where you're going and
they have a website, more often than not, that website
will have their menu on it. So I actually do
some free research, so to speak, and have a look
at what's on the menu that I've got an idea
of what they've got. And then I'm I'll make a
(04:21):
few choices in my head and then on the day
or night, make a decision then as to what I want.
I'll still skim the menu when we get there, but
I'll have it in my mind what they have and
what I want to order.
S2 (04:34):
What about other facilities? Um, we do have problems, for example,
finding where the toilets are or the, uh, sometimes where
to get the drinks or the food.
S4 (04:45):
I guess you've just got to be upfront with the
wait staff when they seat you just ask them, you know,
is it table service or do we need to to
go up and order? Um, if so, where do we
need to go? Toilets is an interesting one. I'm usually
pretty good at sussing out the, the signage. It's usually, um,
(05:06):
at the top of a corridor of sorts. So yeah,
I'm pretty, I'm pretty good with that. But um, again,
I'm not, I'm not scared to ask where they are either.
S2 (05:15):
Have you been forced at all to use the disability toilet?
S4 (05:18):
Forced probably isn't the right word, but I've been in
a situation where I might not be able to find
the regular female toilet, and I see the disability toilet
there and think, well, you know what? I really need
to go, so I'm just going to be quick about it.
S2 (05:34):
Is there anything you will not eat when you're out
and about?
S4 (05:38):
Uh, I don't like eating pasta of the sort of
longer type, as in spaghetti or fettuccine, because I know
I'm going to make a mess. Also, I'm not ever
going to order a whole lobster, just in case the
waitstaff leave you to try and crack it open yourself. Well, yes,
there was this.
S2 (05:57):
Incident in Singapore with some satays I seem to remember.
S4 (06:02):
Do we have to talk about that? Oh, yes. So
we were at a well-known marketplace in Singapore, where they're
very well known for lots of vendors selling satay. So
meat on a stick, basically. And yes, you and I
chose a place to sit and I saw that they
had prawn satays. So I said, well, I'm going to
(06:23):
get those. But I didn't know. Is that they came
to you a whole prawn on a stick, which you
had to peel yourself, and it was all in satay sauce.
So needless to say, yes, a very messy experience. And yes,
I didn't enjoy them nearly as much as I thought
I would.
S2 (06:42):
Are you going to order them again?
S4 (06:44):
No.
S2 (06:47):
All right. Do you have any suggested workarounds as the, uh,
the wise old lady of total blindness?
S3 (06:54):
Well, less of the old. Thanks, Sam. You know, I
would just agree with Heidi. You know, do your research.
If you can find a menu on the website. That's good.
I do have apps that will scan the menu for
me and read it, but they are fiddly and complicated,
and it actually involves taking a picture of the menu,
which depending on the lighting and the angle of the
camera doesn't always work out.
S2 (07:15):
Mhm.
S3 (07:17):
I was out with a couple of friends at a
country and Western meet at the end of last year,
and a friend of mine had met her glasses, and
she used that to read the menu. And they were
really good because it scanned the whole thing. And it
was like, yeah, there's sides ranging from this price to
this price, and it was really comprehensive. So if you
got glasses, my tip is use them. I don't have them.
S2 (07:39):
So it's becoming more and more a case that these
things aren't just a want. They're a need. You know,
like we were at the start of the show talking
about the NDIS. Well, um, if they're starting to cut back,
maybe looking, looking at getting a set of these things,
because the more I hear about them, the more I
think I need them.
S3 (07:54):
Well, the NDIS doesn't fund them anyway.
S2 (07:56):
Well, I've heard of some people that have.
S3 (07:58):
Claimed I know, so have I. But you know, Steven's
been fighting for months to get some.
S2 (08:02):
Well, uh, it depends on who you get. And I
think that's part of what they're trying to actually fix anyway.
In the meantime, who are we talking to next?
S3 (08:09):
I believe we're talking about Debbie. And by the way,
she's got a challenge for us.
S5 (08:15):
Well, Lizzie, I find spaghetti one of the easiest dishes
to eat, because what I do is I get it,
and I cut several times from top of the plate
or bowl to the bottom of the bowl towards yourself.
And I do that several times across the bowl or
the plate, and then I turn it around and cut
(08:37):
the other way. So you're cutting all the little pieces
of spaghetti into smaller amounts, smaller sizes, and then you
still twirl it around your fork like you would any
other time. And you don't normally end up with too
much dangling down and you're having to slurp it up.
(08:58):
So that's how I eat my spaghetti when I go out.
And I do here at home as well when I
make it myself. So yeah, it's one of the easiest
things to order. And I do order Singapore noodles all
the time too, and I just twirl them around the fork.
They're quite easy to eat as well. Chicken wings if
you order them. Well, that's finger food anyway, so you
(09:19):
don't worry about eating them with your fingers. I quite
often order a seafood basket, and I pick everything up
in my fingers whether I'm out or not, or like
I go to the RSL club on a Sunday and
I usually get a seafood basket there, and I eat
everything with my fingers because it's all little bits of seafood. See,
(09:40):
apart from the piece of fish. But I still pick
that up with my fingers, too. Otherwise, you're trying to
cut that on top of everything else. So I just
eat everything with my fingers and be done with it.
And no one complains. No one worries about it.
S2 (09:59):
We stand corrected. It is possible to eat noodles and
spaghetti without looking like a total fool. Fool. Um.
S3 (10:08):
I actually shared the tip too on the WhatsApp group
that if you go to faster pasta And I don't
know if faster pasta is a thing in the rest
of Australia. I know it used to be, but in
in here in Adelaide, it's a big thing. It's a
chain you can get, say if you order a bolognese,
for example, you can get penne pasta or spiral like
(10:29):
you can order different types of pastas. You don't have
to have spaghetti. So if that's an option, you know,
if you go to an Italian restaurant or something, then
just ask for the spirals or the penny.
S2 (10:40):
Something different, something that's a bit more user friendly.
S3 (10:42):
Yeah, exactly. And that's my workaround.
S2 (10:45):
The other interesting thing she was talking about seafood as well.
And um, I from memory, um, from people that I've
known in the past, usually the first thing you find
when you're eating fish or seafood of some sort with
a fork is the lemon.
S3 (10:59):
Ah, yes. Yes. Well, I mean that's a thing that
I think everyone's had, you've got something on your fork
and you think, oh jolly. Oh here we go. You
bite into it and it's a lemon.
S2 (11:09):
Mhm. All right. So we've had a fairly long conversation
with your husband and Shawn. Ever reliable. Um, this will
be in several parts, however.
S3 (11:19):
Yes. Um, I will just preface this by saying this
conversation was quite chaotic. It was recorded on a Monday
morning and it it's about as chaotic as you'd imagine. Shawn,
apart from money being the obvious thing that stops most
of us from dining out, what are some of the
(11:39):
things that that you don't like about dining out?
S6 (11:42):
Well, the accessibility of the menus is one thing.
S3 (11:45):
What do you do to get around that?
S6 (11:47):
Well, that depends. If you've got someone like a support
worker who can, you know, who can assist, and they'll
read the menu for you if you ask them. But
if you're out on your, on your lonesome, it's a
little bit harder.
S3 (12:01):
If I remember correctly, you and Katrina went to the
Bridgeway for Valentine's Day when she came down from the US.
And you were alone, right?
S6 (12:10):
Yes.
S3 (12:11):
How did you navigate the menu and going up to
the counter to order and things like that on that occasion.
S6 (12:17):
We were lucky enough to have someone help us to
navigate the restaurant, first of all, and give us an
idea of what was on the menu. One of the
wait staff, which is, I think, part of their thing.
There are a lot of wait staff don't like to
do it, but it's the thing that has to be
done if you haven't got accessible menus.
S7 (12:39):
Well, I had a volunteer showing me how to do
something very clever because I. Most menus are the writing on.
It's very small. Uh, sometimes when we've been out with volunteers,
I'd read the menu, but with my particular ADHD or whatever,
I can't take in what some people say, especially when
there's lot of noise going on. So I got to
read it myself. So what I'd do is get the
camera out on my phone and zoom in on the
(13:00):
menu and read it that way. When we got a
group of people, the time to read the menu to
other people. Yes.
S3 (13:04):
So how do you generally find the wait staff act
towards you? Not so much if you go out with
a group of other sighted people. But if you are alone,
or perhaps with another blind or visually impaired people.
S6 (13:14):
Let's be real. It's a crapshoot. It really is. It's
a crapshoot. You might get a good one one day
and you might get a cantankerous old biddy the next.
S7 (13:22):
You know, I agree with that.
S3 (13:23):
What are some things that waitresses or waiters do in
these establishments that really annoy you the most?
S6 (13:29):
My favorite is the Old Faithful, that most people do
talk slowly or talk loudly thinking you're deaf.
S7 (13:39):
What is the rack off and leave you with no
napkins or cutlery out to bring in your food? Sometimes
I bring that stuff out first. Sometimes I've been to
a few places to sit down and bring all the
food and stuff. Are you going to get up and
go find them cut off?
S6 (13:51):
Yeah, although they give you any bloody condiments.
S7 (13:54):
Yes.
S3 (13:55):
We had this the other day. Right. Megan and I
were out, and Megan was off getting a glass of water,
and this lady brought our food over and just dumped
it in the middle of the table and didn't say
which one was which or what was what. She just
dumped it in the middle of the table. And Megan's like,
good thing I can see to know what's yours and
what's mine. Or if you were here with somebody that
couldn't see very well, you're going to have a great
(14:15):
deal of trouble.
S6 (14:16):
That would be a steaming pile, wouldn't it?
S7 (14:19):
I've got one for you. We were with a group,
and I'd got about a third way through one meal,
so I need to go to the toilet. So I
get up out of the toilet, come back, and it's gone.
S6 (14:28):
Oh, rude.
S7 (14:29):
They just went around collecting all the plates. I thought,
oh well, he's had enough. Big fat pig will send
him out the door. Oh yeah. Rude, right. There's like
a foot in like $38 meal or something. And it
was like about half of it left. And I went
up and go to the toilet and come back and
the plates gone.
S6 (14:45):
I'll blow that.
S3 (14:46):
Are there any dishes or foods that you will avoid
ordering or eating when you're dining out simply because of
your vision impairment?
S6 (14:53):
Not in case of doubt. Like I won't order seafood,
anything with cabbage or that in it because cabbage has
a rather nasty effect on me.
S7 (15:04):
I've been out and ordered stuff that I really like,
like ribs. I realize you've only got 3 or 400 napkins.
You need five because you gotta use your fingers and
that sort of thing.
S3 (15:13):
Were you taught in school to use cutlery properly? Because
I know I was.
S6 (15:19):
Yeah, you bet I was. We were shown the proper
etiquette and used it.
S7 (15:24):
I will say this dining with Sean or eating. He's
had three round our place and we've been out before together.
I've never seen a totally blind person eat the way
he does with a knife and fork. And I know
it's not meant to be sounding patronising, but a lot
of people use a hand to try to feel stuff.
Sean can pick the meat off the bones of a
chicken without touching it, and I don't know how he
(15:45):
does it.
S3 (15:46):
Okay, so Stephen will avoid ribs. Sean won't avoid anything
except for just a taste of not liking it.
S7 (15:51):
I'll avoid the bill.
S3 (15:55):
I think everyone tries to avoid the bill. But again,
we did say in the beginning that money couldn't be
included in the list of gripes. It had to be
things other than that.
S2 (16:05):
Well, there are a few things to cover there. I mean, waitstaff,
for example, is the classic one. And as we said
at the head of the show, um, it seems to
be less common now, but I have had it in
the past where someone, when I'm reading the menu and
someone says, oh, didn't you bring the right glasses with you?
S3 (16:22):
Wow. Okay.
S2 (16:23):
And it's like, that happens, doesn't it? Yes. Um, it's not,
not the fact that I have a disability of some
sort or anything like that, and I didn't bring the
right glasses with me. Silly me.
S3 (16:33):
Oh, I know. I've had people talk to my support
worker at the counter when we've gone up to order. Now,
my support workers are pretty good in the fact that
they will generally be like, well, I don't know. Why
don't you ask Lizzie what she wants? But unfortunately, I
do have some family members that just find it easier
to try and find out what I want and answer
(16:55):
for me. And, um, I actually have said to these
family members, well, that takes away my choice and control
because we could be sitting at the table and I
could decide there and then, oh yeah, I'll go for
the chicken salad. But you know, while we're walking up,
I'm pondering it and I go, oh, actually, you know what?
I've decided I'll have the salmon. And I'm thinking this
in my head. Like I've changed my mind. I'm gonna
(17:16):
have the salmon. We get up there and they ask
my family member, oh, what does she want? And they go, oh,
the chicken salad. And then I have to be the
awkward one. That goes, well, actually, no, I've changed my mind.
I want the salmon. And could you please talk to me?
Because I'm going to be the one paying for my food. Um, yeah.
And unfortunately it's caused a lot of awkwardness with family
(17:37):
members because some of them would rather just speak for
me because it's easier. They don't want to cause a fuss.
S2 (17:43):
I could understand that. And that's, um. Yeah. Uh, you
want you want a nice meal out. You don't want
an argument. Um, the other one was accessible menus, which is, um,
a bit of a bugbear of mine because, um, some
places they don't even have a menu. It's all written
at the back behind a counter, for example. And if
they don't happen to have my monocular with me, which
(18:04):
I think a lot of you out there also don't
use a monocular. So, uh, you're only, only recourse is
to ask people what's there.
S3 (18:11):
Yeah. I mean, we've had that too. And generally, unless
we're out with sighted people, we don't even know that
there is a specials board or what's on it. Yeah.
And don't even get me started on takeaway restaurants and
their silly interactive screens, because we've had that conversation on
this show before.
S2 (18:28):
Indeed. Yeah.
S3 (18:29):
But they are definitely not accessible. And as far as
I can see, or as far as I'm aware, they
haven't made any changes to make it more so.
S2 (18:38):
Well, it's probably probably better for us is that we're
not going to be eating fast food in the very
near future.
S3 (18:44):
Well, I wouldn't be caught dead in a place like
Maccas or KFC. Just send my husband out to get
it for me.
S2 (18:49):
Anyway, we will continue our conversation because, well, they had
more to say.
S7 (18:56):
I remember as a kid, when I was about 12
years old, and we were at the hotel with my
brother in law and sister, and I was using the
cane to get around. Back then there was a bit
of ribbing going around, you know, blind people and people
with disabilities in general. I was fumbling around McCain trying
to find the right toilet and end up going to
the women's store. He came out and everyone was peeing
themselves laughing.
S6 (19:17):
Thankfully, most restaurants these days have some sort of tactile
indication of which one's which. Or maybe there might even
have Braille on the bottom so you can sit there
and read it.
S3 (19:29):
Now, a lot of restaurants that you go to have,
you know, a particular mood lighting, or maybe they're trying
to set a scene with the lighting choices that they make. Sean,
I know it doesn't make any difference to you, but Stephen,
how does this affect you?
S7 (19:43):
It really does. I remember going to one of those
well to do events and the lighting there was like candlelight.
It was so dark and I'm like, I'm not going
to be able to read this menu or anything. I
could barely find my way to the bar, and that's
just annoying.
S6 (19:57):
Well, now we're on equal footing.
S3 (19:58):
Yeah, you know what? That's a good point. I specifically
will not wear white when I go out to any
sort of restaurant because I'm afraid of getting it stained.
S6 (20:07):
Ah, yeah. Now, that's the thing, isn't it?
S7 (20:09):
You can't own a restaurant without spilling something on your clothes,
aren't you?
S6 (20:12):
Yes and no. It just depends on what you're eating.
S7 (20:15):
There was a event Amy went to. She was partly hosting, actually.
She was doing a talk there and it was called
dining in the dark. And it had vision impaired people there,
but all the sighted people had to wear blindfolds.
S6 (20:26):
Oh, yeah. Those are good.
S3 (20:27):
What I'd like to know is how do the waiters
and waitresses cope in those events?
S6 (20:32):
They're the blind ones serving all the meals and things.
S3 (20:34):
Oh that's amazing.
S6 (20:36):
Yeah, that's that's what dining in the dark is all about.
S3 (20:39):
Right. Well, I want to sign up to be a
waitress at the next dining in the dark guide dogs SANT,
if you can hear me.
S2 (20:46):
Well, okay.
S3 (20:46):
Count me.
S2 (20:47):
In. Talking about the toilets, this is something I actually,
over the weekend I came across which, um, went to a, uh,
a sports bar that we've never been to before and
was looking for where the toilets were, did a whole
scout of, you know, normally there beside the door and
look beside the door, the ladies toilets were there. Great.
(21:08):
But I couldn't find the men's toilets anyway, so kept
on scouting around and found a disability toilet and went,
you know what? That's it. I'm using that. It's not
the first time I've done that as well. When the
disability toilets, the first one you find, you end up going,
you know what? I can't be bothered looking around any
more because as it turned out, yes it was. They
were in a very obvious place, just in the the
wrong corner, as it were. Have you had a similar problem? No, no.
S3 (21:31):
No.
S2 (21:31):
I'm the only one that ducks into disability.
S3 (21:33):
Toilets. Oh no. I mean, yeah, like I've used the
disability toilet, but I've never had a problem going to
the wrong toilet. I've never gone into the men's toilet
or anything like that. Usually because when I'm in public
and I need the toilet, I usually ask for assistance
and I never try to find it myself. So I
don't have any funny toilet stories. We could build a
show off that though, if you like.
S2 (21:52):
Oh indeed I do. Usually I can see enough that
I know that as soon as I enter them, I'm
in the wrong toilet. So it's a case of open
the door, there's no urinal. You can turn around, ride
it back the other way.
S3 (22:05):
You can usually tell by the smell as well. No offense.
S2 (22:08):
What's this last little bit about?
S3 (22:10):
Yeah. Now, um, Stephen and I, we have a very
funny story. And, uh, this happened shortly after we began dating.
I'll let Stephen start, I think.
S7 (22:23):
Well, do I have A Dog's tale for you about
dining in the dark? Dining in a mess, I should say.
S8 (22:28):
Oh, really?
S7 (22:29):
Well, our first official date that we went on to.
Where was it?
S8 (22:33):
Texas diner. Oh, yes, I remember this.
S7 (22:35):
We sat down. Lacy took her position underneath the table
that she does now. These were pretty light tables. I
like picnic type tables like the fold out toilet. And
that was a booth. Now, the lady had come down
and brought all the condiments and all the knives and forks. Like,
you know how we spoke about people not doing that before?
And she made sure we had all that stuff. I
get up and go up to the counter to take
(22:56):
the order and what happens? I come back and Lacy
stands up and I asked the whole table. She jumped
up suddenly and put her head up and completely overturned
the table.
S3 (23:07):
You had come back to let me know that my
card had been declined And in the chaos and confusion
that Lacey had caused, the couple sitting next to us
went up and paid for our food.
S6 (23:19):
Oh well, that's nice of them.
S3 (23:21):
So whilst it was a funny story in that Lacey
upended the table and cutlery and salt and pepper shakers
went everywhere.
S7 (23:28):
We got a free feed.
S3 (23:29):
Thanks, Lacey. I will also add that she didn't just
get up, she got up and jumped up onto the booth.
Hence why the table was upended.
S2 (23:41):
Well, okay. Um, um. Dogs and children, as it were. Right.
So that's life from a low vision and blind point
of view when it comes to eating out. What happens
if you have another disability? Well, my friend Emma over
at Powered Media has a few things to say about that.
S7 (23:56):
Oh my God, Sam.
S9 (23:58):
You would not believe it yet. Table legs are my
absolute nemesis because they don't fit wheelchairs under most tables.
And when I do get to fit in a type.
Or more often than not, it's because the two tables
have been pushed together and so on. Then taking up
(24:19):
two tables where I'm often sitting on my own. But
that's just that's just the tip of the iceberg.
S10 (24:27):
What would be your particular bugbears?
S9 (24:29):
So I can't cut up my own nails. And so
when I am out with people, it kind of depends
on the group I'm actually out with whether I'm comfortable
enough to say, hey, if I ordered this, can you
cut it up for me? And most of the time
people are more than happy to do it. But it's
(24:50):
me and my own head going, I shouldn't have to
ask people to cut up my food. I'm really embarrassed.
So I often end up ordering something that doesn't need
to be cut up, like a risotto or, um, or
a salad or, you know, just something that you can
already put on a utensil. that. In saying that a
(25:13):
lot of the time when I do eat by myself,
I prefer to face a wall. I can't eat with
my mouth closed, and that's quite embarrassing for me as well.
So in order to save general public from watching a
weird man and disabled person sitting by themselves eating like
(25:36):
an animal, I face the wall a lot of the
time and look, it's probably not as bad as I
make it out to be, but it's definitely something that
I'm self-conscious about.
S10 (25:48):
In your field of work, you'd be required to go
out and about and eat out a bit more than just,
you know, if you weren't doing your job.
S9 (25:57):
Well, as I said, Sam, if I'm at a work
conference or something like that, it depends on whether I'm
sitting next to someone who I've worked with before or
who knows me. But generally, if I'm. they asked for
dietary requirements. A lot of the time I'll put down
(26:18):
vegetarian even though I'm not vegetarian, because it's easier for
me to come up with one hand using the fork.
Like recently, I've, I've become more confident and like I'm
a creature of habit. So I go to 2 or
3 cafes and that's it. But that's also because I
(26:38):
know that I can get under the tables, but I
go to these cafes like 2 to 3 times a week.
And so the owners know me. And so I now
feel confident enough to order smashed avocado and have them
cut it up for me.
S10 (26:56):
Well, happy dining experience from now on.
S9 (26:58):
I mean, I'm from the Hunter Valley and I love food.
I live for food.
S2 (27:02):
That's a wrap for this week. A big thank you
to Heidi, Debbie, Sean, Stephen and Emma. And of course,
thank you for listening. That includes our listeners on other stations,
including the Reading Radio network.
S3 (27:13):
You can find a podcast of this program, plus some
extra content from time to time on Apple, Spotify, Google,
or your favorite podcast platform.
S2 (27:21):
Next week, we're coming to you from the roundtable on
information access for people with print disabilities.
S3 (27:27):
But between now and then, please get in touch with
the show, whether you have experience of any of the
issues covered on this week's episode of Studio One, or
if you think there's something we should be talking about,
you never know. Your story and insight may help someone
who's dealing with something similar.
S2 (27:42):
You can reach us via email at studio 1@vision.org. That's
studio number 1@vision.org.
S3 (27:48):
Or you can find us on Facebook or Instagram by
searching for VA Radio Network. We want to hear from you.
Keep those comments coming in.
S2 (27:55):
Bye for now.
S1 (27:56):
Studio one was produced in the Adelaide Studios of Vision
Australia Radio. This show was made possible with the help
of the Community Broadcasting Foundation. Find out more@kbf.org.au.
Popular Podcasts
Hey Jonas!
Hey Jonas! The official Jonas Brothers podcast. Hosted by Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas. It’s the Jonas Brothers you know... musicians, actors, and well, yes, brothers. Now, they’re sharing another side of themselves in the playful, intimate, and irreverent way only they can. Spend time with the Jonas Brothers here and stay a little bit longer for deep conversations like never before.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.
Betrayal Weekly
Betrayal Weekly is back for a new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal Team by emailing them at betrayalpod@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram at @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.