Pitch Dark Bar Opens for Blind Dates

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I found this to be a lovely story, when there are so few to be found in the news these days.

Pitch Dark Bar Opens for Blind Dates Thu Sep 5,10:09 AM ET

BERLIN (Reuters) - Diners at Berlin's newest restaurant cannot see what they are eating and have to be guided to their table by blind waiters because the bar is pitch black.

The restaurant, which opened Wednesday, aims to make guests concentrate on senses other than sight.

Holding on to one another, the first visitors followed waiter Roland Zimmermann, 33, into the dining room. Although the PhD student has been blind since childhood, he is the only one able to point out chairs, cutlery and drinks.

"I'm putting your plate right in front of you," Zimmermann said. "I can't find my mouth," one voice replied out of the dark. "I wonder what this dish is -- Lasagne? Or some casserole?" another invisible guest said.

In the "unsicht-Bar," which means invisible in German, diners cannot choose complete dishes from the menu but can only indicate whether they would like a fish, meat or vegetarian option.

"We want people to have an extraordinary experience of tasting, feeling and smelling," said Manfred Scharbach, head of the organization for blind and sight-restricted people, which is running the bar.

"People are surprised that their tongues and taste senses are taking over and are sending signals, which their eyes would normally have sent," he added.

Of the 30 staff, 22 are blind.

An average meal lasts about three hours and the waiters are always around to help, Scharnbach said.

And at the end of the night, they will even reveal what customers have actually been eating.

-- Anonymous, September 06, 2002

Answers

Cool, EM!

I'd like to go eat there, but it's a bit too far. I wonder if there are any other restaurants like that?

As part of "handicap awareness week", or some such, I cruised all over downtown Grants Pass, Oregon, in a wheelchair, and had to get a card checked off at various businesses, to show that I'd actually made it to all the spots I was supposed to go.

Some of the businesses were very difficult to enter by wheelchair, at least for most of us. I suspect someone who is used to navigating one would do better than we did.

Overall, it was an eyeopening experience (poor choice of words in this context, I suppose)

I've heard of folks at the local Community College here volunteering to wear blindfolds for a few hours while going about their "normal" business, with help I suppose. Similar to the blind restaurant, I guess.

-- Anonymous, September 06, 2002


They did a survey here in Indy during the primary election and discovered that only about 10% of the polling places are handicapped accessable. The vast majority of workers at the polling places didn't know that it is legal for someone who needs assistance to bring a friend or family member into the voting booth with them. They're going to repeat the survey again in November and see if the situation has improved.

One of my co-workers is in a wheelchair due to MS and she has a hell of a time getting around our building.

-- Anonymous, September 06, 2002


I spent 23 days with my eyes bandaged after having a CO2 refridgerant line rupture in my face. I found rain on tin and bacon frying sound very similar and stale cigarette smoke smells very much like cheap peanut butter.

-- Anonymous, September 06, 2002

What a cool experience; I also wouldn't mind trying that, but would probably need a shower curtain for a bib . :^)

A few years ago, my bosses were asked to participate in a handicapped person awareness program, where for 1/2 the day, the participant was forced to propel themselves about the junior college campus by wheelchair. It was a very eye opening experience, especially feeling the fatigue of having to traverse sidewalk slopes which were steeper than the recommended minimum, and getting over curbs where the sidewalk ramp was blocked by a vehicle.

My wife last year broke her ankle, and had to get around by wheelchair while on campus (she is a teacher). She said that switching from wheelchair to water closet was too difficult for her; she switched to crutches when going to restroom. What complicated her predicament was that she was seven months pregnant at the time.

As a draftsman, we are forced to comply with many regulations detailing how much clearance is allowed and what our slopes to different building finish floors elevations are allowed. It makes our job extremely difficult, and adds quite a bit of cost to new buildings - but the handicapped pay taxes too, and a building which is INACCESSIBLE to them is ridiculous.

-- Anonymous, September 09, 2002


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