A somewhat derogatory
name for someone who can see well, used by blind
people. This term implies that the person so named takes his vision, and the activities that it enables him to do, for granted.
A sightling thinks nothing of hopping in his
car on a Saturday morning and taking a quick trip to the grocery store to buy some milk. The same task, for a blind person, takes at least a day of advanced planning, and possibly involves a long bus
ride, hours of waiting, or a large cab fair.
A sightling thinks nothing of jogging across the middle of a street during a lull in traffic to get to the Wallgreens on the other side. A blind person must wait at the intersection, listening for a favorable traffic
flow pattern for him to cross. This waiting and listening may take as long as an hour at a single corner, and may involve several light cycles before paralell traffic is
heavy enough to ensure the person safe passage.
A sightling can drive less than two minutes to a salon or barber shop for a haircut. A blind person, assuming they know the location of a salon or barber shop, must hike the three miles to get their.
A sightling can drive his
car to pick up a bag of dog
food for his
lazy, overfed, understimulated dog. A blind person must walk a mile to the pet store, and pick up a 10 kg bag of dog
food, and carry it back to his
house for his hard working dog guide, which he couldn't take along to the pet store because he couldn't carry the
food in one hand and handle the dog in the other.