thanks Donna. i appreciate that. i had a gut sense of his being smothered and others around were all rushy.... i felt protective i think is what did it.

i think the association for the blind here almost surely probably provides a training course for guides, so i am going to keep this idea on the back burner for when i am a bit better. because i have partial skills, i sometimes offer without thinking. but after i did think about it, i believe i should get "proper" training...

see, with a person you guide regularly, as used to do with my friend, you learn their preferences and physically tune to each other over time, so little verbal exchange is required at all. we mostly would chat. but when helping a stranger, i think knowing protocol would be useful. the point is not to "give help" so much as for them to "receive help." if one's "giving" is a hindrance, then it is no good - it is possibly dangerous to them, for all one's good intentions.

but thank you for affirming me. the guy was perfectly fine, so no harm done, and certainly the experience gave me a chance to think about this, and how i can improve.

~ waves ~