On Visual Impairment

I’m always amazed that people can see who is in the other car. I can’t see anything through the windows of vehicles. Not too long ago, a cousin posted on Facebook about a car wreck he was almost in, and that the person in the car that pulled out in front of him was an old lady.

That reminded me of all the times I’m riding in someone’s car and they’ll say “That girl is driving over the center line.” as they veer to the shoulder of the road to avoid a head-on collision. Or “That guy just pulled out in front of me.” Or “I hate how old people drive.” Or “Oh, look! See the dog in the passenger seat?” Or “Ew, that old man just winked at me!” which a girlfriend said once when we were driving down the road. And a number of other things.

Often when someone says something of the sort while in a car, I’m thinking, “You can see them?” I guess it’s strange to me, the powerful vision that most people seem to have. Maybe I don’t quite understand how well people who are not visually impaired can actually see.

From my office window, I have a view of the lake and the land on the other side of the lake. I can see a few buildings on the far side of the lake. I think they’re ordinary houses, but I’m not positive because there is a golf course on the other side of the lake. I don’t know if these buildings are part of the golf course or not.

I’d say that the distance from my office window to the other side of the lake is about three or four hundred yards, maybe five hundred. Just my guess. If there were not a bunch of trees on the other side of the lake, I might be able to see the golf course.

I can see the buildings because they are white, or light colored. If they were not light colored, I would not be able to see them.

What I wonder is, would a person who is not visually impaired be able to see whether the buildings on the other side of the lake are ordinary houses or not and if someone was out mowing their lawn? If there weren’t trees between those structures and the golf course, would a person who is not visually impaired be able to watch a golf tournament from my office window three, four or five hundred yards away?