So, stepping down out of the bus, I headed back to the corner to head west en route to a braille training session. It was the winter of 2009, and I had been blind for about a year. Things were going pretty well. Safely reaching the other side, I turned to the left, pushed the auto-button for the audible pedestrian signal, and waited my turn. As it went off, I took off and safely got to the other side. Stepping onto the sidewalk, I then heard the sound of a steel chair slide across the concrete sidewalk in front of me. I know there's a cafe on the corner, and they have chairs out in front, so I just adjusted to the left to get closer to the street. As I did, so slid the chair. I just figured I'd made a mistake, and went back to the right, and so slid the chair in perfect synchronicity. Now I was getting a little anxious. I went back to the left, and so slid the chair, blocking my path of travel. Now, I was officially freaking out. So I yelled, "Who the hell's out there? What's going on?" Just then, over my shout, I heard something else, a familiar rattle. It sounded familiar, and I quickly considered another possibility, and I reached out with my left hand, as my fingers brushed against something fuzzy, and I came across an ear, the ear of a dog, perhaps a golden retriever. Its leash had been tied to the chair as her master went in for coffee, and she was just persistent in her efforts to greet me, perhaps get a scratch behind the ear. Who knows, maybe she was volunteering for service. (Laughter)
下了公車, 我往回走到街角 朝西走去參加布拉耶點字法的訓練課程。 那是在 2009 年的冬天, 我失明大概一年了, 生活還算順利。 我能安全地抵達另一邊, 我向左轉, 按下盲人音響號誌的自動按鈕, 等著輪到我走。 當聲音響起,我起步 安全地走到另一端。 踏上人行道後, 我聽見鐵椅的聲音 滑過我前方的混凝土人行道。 我知道街角有家咖啡廳, 他們在外頭擺了幾張椅子, 所以我向左移, 靠馬路近一些。 當我一移動,椅子也跟著移了。 我發現我犯了個錯, 所以我往右挪回一些, 那椅子也分毫不差地跟著我移動。 這讓我開始有點驚慌, 我再往左移回一些, 椅子也跟著移了, 阻擋了我行進的道路。 這下我可真的嚇壞了, 所以我大叫: 「到底是誰在那?發生什麼事了?」 在我大叫後, 我聽見一個熟悉的聲音, 聽起來很熟悉, 我馬上就意識到另一種可能性, 我伸出左手 摸到了毛絨絨的東西, 接著我碰到一隻耳朵, 是狗的耳朵,大概是黃金獵犬。 牠的鏈子綁在椅子上, 主人在裡頭買咖啡, 牠不斷努力地 向我示好,也許希望我搔一下牠的耳後。 天曉得,也許牠想自願幫點忙也說不定。 (笑聲)
But that little story is really about the fears and misconceptions that come along with the idea of moving through the city without sight, seemingly oblivious to the environment and the people around you.
這個小故事其實是關於 視障者在城市中移動時 會有的害怕 和誤解, 對那些在你身旁 看似習以為常的環境和人們。
So let me step back and set the stage a little bit. On St. Patrick's Day of 2008, I reported to the hospital for surgery to remove a brain tumor. The surgery was successful. Two days later, my sight started to fail. On the third day, it was gone.
讓我回過頭稍微安排一下場景。 2008 年的聖派翠克節當天, 我到醫院動手術, 移除腦腫瘤。 手術成功。 兩天後,我的視力開始衰退, 第三天,我失明了。
Immediately, I was struck by an incredible sense of fear, of confusion, of vulnerability, like anybody would. But as I had time to stop and think, I actually started to realize I had a lot to be grateful for. In particular, I thought about my dad, who had passed away from complications from brain surgery. He was 36. I was seven at the time. So although I had every reason to be fearful of what was ahead, and had no clue quite what was going to happen, I was alive. My son still had his dad. And besides, it's not like I was the first person ever to lose their sight. I knew there had to be all sorts of systems and techniques and training to have to live a full and meaningful, active life without sight.
一瞬間,恐懼、困惑和受傷的感覺 重重地打擊了我, 就像每個人一樣。 但是當我停下來好好想一想, 我開始了解,其實 我應該要滿懷感激。 尤其是,我想到我父親 是因為腦部手術引起的 併發症而過世。 當時他 36 歲,我才 7 歲。 因此雖然我有很多原因 應該要對未來感到害怕, 而且我對將會發生的事一無所知, 但是至少我還活著。 我的兒子還有爸爸。 另外,聽起來我也不是第一個 失去視覺的人。 我知道社會上有很多機制、 技術和訓練, 讓即使看不見的我們 也能過一個充實、有意義、 活躍的生活。
So by the time I was discharged from the hospital a few days later, I left with a mission, a mission to get out and get the best training as quickly as I could and get on to rebuilding my life. Within six months, I had returned to work. My training had started. I even started riding a tandem bike with my old cycling buddies, and was commuting to work on my own, walking through town and taking the bus. It was a lot of hard work.
因此,在我出院 幾天之後,我肩負著使命, 希望能儘早出門、做最好的訓練, 愈快愈好,準備好重建我的生活。 我必須在六個月內回到工作崗位, 因此我開始訓練。 我甚至開始和從前的自行車友 一起騎雙人車, 而且我自己通勤上班, 穿越城鎮、搭上公車。 這可不是簡單的工程。
But what I didn't anticipate through that rapid transition was the incredible experience of the juxtaposition of my sighted experience up against my unsighted experience of the same places and the same people within such a short period of time.
但是我沒有預期到 在擁有與失去視覺的 快速過渡期間, 我會從相同的人和地點中 得到如此驚人、迥異的經驗, 就這短短的一段時間而已。
From that came a lot of insights, or outsights, as I called them, things that I learned since losing my sight. These outsights ranged from the trival to the profound, from the mundane to the humorous. As an architect, that stark juxtaposition of my sighted and unsighted experience of the same places and the same cities within such a short period of time has given me all sorts of wonderful outsights of the city itself. Paramount amongst those was the realization that, actually, cities are fantastic places for the blind. And then I was also surprised by the city's propensity for kindness and care as opposed to indifference or worse. And then I started to realize that it seemed like the blind seemed to have a positive influence on the city itself. That was a little curious to me.
我從當中得到許多領悟 或是對外界事物的觀察力, 就像我稱為那些在失明後學到的事。 這些對外界的觀察從小 到大都有, 有平淡無奇,也有幽默有趣的。 身為建築師,這種顯著的對比 出現在相同地點和城市中, 差別僅在於我是否擁有視覺, 而這段快速的過渡期, 帶給我城市中 各種美好的觀察經驗。 在那之中最重要的 其實是理解 城市對盲人來說是很棒的地方。 因此,我也很驚訝 在城市中較常出現的是仁慈和關懷, 而非相反的漠不關心。 之後,我開始理解 盲人似乎對城市 有正向的影響。 這讓我有點好奇,
Let me step back and take a look at why the city is so good for the blind. Inherent with the training for recovery from sight loss is learning to rely on all your non-visual senses, things that you would otherwise maybe ignore. It's like a whole new world of sensory information opens up to you. I was really struck by the symphony of subtle sounds all around me in the city that you can hear and work with to understand where you are, how you need to move, and where you need to go. Similarly, just through the grip of the cane, you can feel contrasting textures in the floor below, and over time you build a pattern of where you are and where you're headed. Similarly, just the sun warming one side of your face or the wind at your neck gives you clues about your alignment and your progression through a block and your movement through time and space. But also, the sense of smell. Some districts and cities have their own smell, as do places and things around you, and if you're lucky, you can even follow your nose to that new bakery that you've been looking for.
讓我們回過頭來看看 為什麼城市有益於盲人。 從失明中康復的訓練之一 就是學著依靠其它非視覺的感官, 那些你原來可能忽略的感覺。 就像是一個附有感知訊息的新世界 張開雙手歡迎你。 真正讓我的大吃一驚的是 在城市中圍繞著我的微妙和諧聲響, 你可以透過聽 來了解自己身在何處, 你應該怎麼移動、應該往哪邊走。 同樣地,只要緊握手杖, 你就能感覺到地板上截然不同的質地, 幾次後,你就能建立起一套模式, 來辨別你身在何處、 你要往哪裡去。 同樣地,只要感覺到陽光溫暖了你的臉頰, 或是微風輕拂你的脖子, 你就能了解自己身在街區中 的路徑和位置, 藉由時間和空間 了解你的移動位置。 還有嗅覺。 某些地區和城市有它們自己的味道, 你可以知道周圍有什麼, 如果幸運的話,你可以跟著鼻子走進 那間找了很久的新烘焙坊。
All this really surprised me, because I started to realize that my unsighted experienced was so far more multi-sensory than my sighted experience ever was. What struck me also was how much the city was changing around me. When you're sighted, everybody kind of sticks to themselves, you mind your own business. Lose your sight, though, and it's a whole other story. And I don't know who's watching who, but I have a suspicion that a lot of people are watching me. And I'm not paranoid, but everywhere I go, I'm getting all sorts of advice: Go here, move there, watch out for this. A lot of the information is good. Some of it's helpful. A lot of it's kind of reversed. You've got to figure out what they actually meant. Some of it's kind of wrong and not helpful. But it's all good in the grand scheme of things.
這些事讓我十分驚奇, 因為我開始理解 我的失明經歷 讓我至今擁有的多重感官經驗 更勝於我在有視覺時所有擁的。 讓我驚訝的還有這個城市 在我週遭有了多少變化。 有視覺的時候, 每個人都像把焦點放在自己身上, 只關心自己的事。 失去視覺,雖然 這又是另一個完全不同的故事。 我不知道誰在看誰, 但是我總懷疑有很多人盯著我看。 我不是偏執狂,但是不管我到哪, 我都會聽到各種不同的建議: 走這邊、往那移、小心這個。 有很多訊息是不錯, 有些蠻有幫助,但是有些反而幫了倒忙。 你得搞清楚他們真正的意思, 有一些是錯的,幫不上忙。 但是長遠來看都是好的。
But one time I was in Oakland walking along Broadway, and came to a corner. I was waiting for an audible pedestrian signal, and as it went off, I was just about to step out into the street, when all of a sudden, my right hand was just gripped by this guy, and he yanked my arm and pulled me out into the crosswalk and was dragging me out across the street, speaking to me in Mandarin. (Laughter) It's like, there was no escape from this man's death grip, but he got me safely there. What could I do? But believe me, there are more polite ways to offer assistance. We don't know you're there, so it's kind of nice to say "Hello" first. "Would you like some help?"
有一次我在奧克蘭, 走在百老匯大道上準備轉彎, 我等到盲人音響號誌的聲音停止後, 正要踏上馬路, 突然間,我的右手 被這個先生一把抓起, 然後他抓著我的手臂,把我拉上行人穿越道, 拖著我過街, 對著我說中文。 (笑聲) 就像是你無法從這男人 死命抓著的手裡逃開, 但他還是讓我安全抵達了。 我能怎麼樣? 但是相信我,還有很多有禮貌的方式 能提供協助。 我們不知道你在那裡, 所以能先開口說聲:「你好」會較恰當, 「你需要幫忙嗎?」
But while in Oakland, I've really been struck by how much the city of Oakland changed as I lost my sight. I liked it sighted. It was fine. It's a perfectly great city. But once I lost my sight and was walking along Broadway, I was blessed every block of the way.
但是當我在奧克蘭時, 這座城市改變之多讓我十分驚訝, 在我失明後感受深刻。 看得見的城市我也喜歡,它很好。 它是一個完美的大城市, 但是當我失去視覺、 走在百老匯大道上, 我無時無刻都被祝福。
"Bless you, man."
「先生,祝福你。」
"Go for it, brother."
「老兄,加油!」
"God bless you."
「願上帝祝福你。」
I didn't get that sighted. (Laughter) And even without sight, I don't get that in San Francisco. And I know it bothers some of my blind friends, it's not just me. Often it's thought that that's an emotion that comes up out of pity. I tend to think that it comes out of our shared humanity, out of our togetherness, and I think it's pretty cool. In fact, if I'm feeling down, I just go to Broadway in downtown Oakland, I go for a walk, and I feel better like that, in no time at all.
我看得見的時候可沒這好處。 (笑聲) 即使失明,我在舊金山也沒得到祝福, 我知道這對我的一些 視障朋友來說有點困擾, 不只是我而已。 通常那都會被看做是 出自憐憫的祝福。 我試著去把它看成是我們共有的人性, 出於同甘共苦,我認為那也挺酷的。 其實如果我覺得難過, 只要走到奧克蘭的市中心百老匯, 到那散個步,我就會感覺好一點, 不用多少時間。
But also that it illustrates how disability and blindness sort of cuts across ethnic, social, racial, economic lines. Disability is an equal-opportunity provider. Everybody's welcome. In fact, I've heard it said in the disability community that there are really only two types of people: There are those with disabilities, and there are those that haven't quite found theirs yet. It's a different way of thinking about it, but I think it's kind of beautiful, because it is certainly far more inclusive than the us-versus-them or the abled-versus-the-disabled, and it's a lot more honest and respectful of the fragility of life.
但是那也說明了 身障和視障如何 切斷人種、社會、 族群和經濟的界限。 每個人都有同樣的機率成為身障, 每個人都歡迎。 事實上,我在身障圈中聽過 世界上只有兩種人的說法: 一種是身障者, 另一種是那些還沒發現自己是身障者的人。 這是另一種不同的思考方式, 但是我認為這是美好的想法, 因為這比起 用你我對立 或是將健全和身障對立的觀點 更能概括一切, 而且這對人生的脆弱 也顯得更為真誠和尊敬。
So my final takeaway for you is that not only is the city good for the blind, but the city needs us. And I'm so sure of that that I want to propose to you today that the blind be taken as the prototypical city dwellers when imagining new and wonderful cities, and not the people that are thought about after the mold has already been cast. It's too late then. So if you design a city with the blind in mind, you'll have a rich, walkable network of sidewalks with a dense array of options and choices all available at the street level. If you design a city with the blind in mind, sidewalks will be predictable and will be generous. The space between buildings will be well-balanced between people and cars. In fact, cars, who needs them? If you're blind, you don't drive. (Laughter) They don't like it when you drive. (Laughter) If you design a city with the blind in mind, you design a city with a robust, accessible, well-connected mass transit system that connects all parts of the city and the region all around. If you design a city with the blind in mind, there'll be jobs, lots of jobs. Blind people want to work too. They want to earn a living.
因此,我最後要送給你們的禮物是 不只是城市對盲人友善, 城市也需要我們。 我確信 我今天提出的想法: 當你想像一個新的完美城市時, 盲人應該被當成是典型的城市居民, 而非在模型都做好了之後, 才被想到的那群人。 到那個時候就太遲了。 因此如果在你設計城市時心中有盲人, 你就會擁有一個豐富、 適合步行的人行道網絡, 有各式各樣的選擇, 在街上都能取得。 如果在你設計城市時心中有盲人, 人行道就能較人性化與寬廣。 建築物之間的空間 和人車之間才能取得平衡。 其實誰需要車子? 如果你是盲人,你根本不開車。 (笑聲) 大家可不喜歡你開車。 (笑聲) 如果在你設計城市時心中有盲人, 你就會設計一個健全、 好用、連結完善的大眾運輸系統, 能夠連接城市的每個角落 和每個地區。 如果在你設計城市時心中有盲人, 就會帶來工作機會,很多工作機會。 盲人也想工作, 他們也想自己賺錢過生活。
So, in designing a city for the blind, I hope you start to realize that it actually would be a more inclusive, a more equitable, a more just city for all. And based on my prior sighted experience, it sounds like a pretty cool city, whether you're blind, whether you have a disability, or you haven't quite found yours yet.
因此,為盲人設計一個城市, 我希望你能開始理解 那其實會是一個對所有人更加包容、 平等與正義的城市。 根據我過去擁有視力時的經驗, 聽起來這是個蠻酷的城市, 不管你是否是盲人、身障者, 或是你還沒發現自己是身障者的人。
So thank you.
謝謝!
(Applause)
(掌聲)