Peter Harmon:

So, I blindfolded help and rode with him to Midway Shopping Center, where we got off and waited for a while for the bus he was to transfer to. He got on to a 50, which unless I'm misreading the schedule should mean he made it to Nicollet Mall.

Half an hour later I called him and told him to take off his blindfold. Then we hung up. As of this writing, I still don't know for certain where he is.

help im a bug:

I used the removable hood of my coat as a blindfold for this. On the plus side, I looked like a superhero. On the minus side, it still smells like cat pee from where Lucky got at it.

Being blind with someone leading me around turned out to be more terrifying than just sitting on the bus blindfolded. The blindfold covered my ears, and often I could not hear what Peter was warning me of. Also he kept trying to lead me into traffic. He claimed this was accidental. He claims many things.

Cars sound much bigger and faster when you don't see them coming. It was easy to get on the first bus once I got Peter to put my hands on the railings. Apparently the bus driver made a silly face and waved his hands in front of my face. That's what Peter said. I couldn't see.

Feeling sideways acceleration is pretty cool when you can't see. My brain wasn't very good at telling when it started and stopped, so I felt like I was flying whenever the bus put on its brakes. This one girl asked if we were doing an experiment. "No, this is for points."

We got off the first bus and Peter put me on the second one. This time he didn't get on. I took out my bus pass and tried to swipe it on the card reader. I couldn't find it. Nobody said anything. I was in the middle of a line of people trying to get on the bus, waving my card around futilely, and nobody complained or offered to help or anything. Minnesota is scary.

Eventually I mumbled something about paying later and walked into one of those bars you use to help stand. I used it to find a seat at the front, and sat down. Suddenly I felt really warm, safe, and isolated. My ears were covered, and now that nobody was talking to me and I wasn't working, I could hear the rushing sound it created really loudly. It was comforting. I noticed that I was rocking from side to side, and stopped myself.

I started trying to take pictures. I was really bad at it.

I heard a really strange noise, sort of like a baby crying but it was also like a chain creaking. Softly, over and over. I tried to aim the camera at it, but ended up just taking a picture of a seat belt.

I heard two women get on and sit across from me, talking about their jobs. I think they worked at the University of Minnesota. I tried to sneak a picture of them but it didn't work.

The alarm went off and I took off my blindfold. Nobody said anything. This was a full bus. I was by the library. The library is closed on Mondays due to lack of funding.

Here are some pictures.

Peter:

The traffic thing is true.

You see, there's a road right near my place that people normally cross at a specific spot, where there is not a crosswalk. I initially intended to go to the crosswalk anyway, but as we neared that location a car stopped to let us past. Then when the driver saw how slowly we were moving, they honked, right as help stepped into the road. So we went back onto the sidewalk and took the crosswalk instead.