Alright, here is blog two of the Christmas themed series. Over the next three days I will be releasing more Christmas blogs talking about how I, as a colourblind person, sees Christmas and all its little traditions. I have already released one blog yesterday about the Christmas tree, so go give that a read too. Don’t worry. I’ll still be here when you get back.
Today’s focus is going to be on another Christmas institution: Christmas lights and house decorations. So without further ado, let's get into it.
What does colourblindness have to do with Christmas lights?
In general, as far as I see it, there are two camps when it comes to Christmas lights and decorations. You’re either the people who barely make an effort to decorate your house and maybe put up one sign or a couple of lights, or if you’re really dead on the inside you do nothing at all. On the other hand there are those that think their neighbours really need to understand how much they love Christmas. Theses are the people who want their house to be visible from the International Space Station. They love Christmas so much that they spend days covering their house, inch by festive inch, with lights. But what if you love Christmas, but you're colourblind?
Well, there lies the problem. The traditional Christmas colours are red and green. Everyone knows this. It is the unspoken law of Christmas, after all. If you show up with red and yellow on your house, there will be an angry mob waiting for you on the 25th. But what if you can’t see red and green? What if every year you have to face the wrath of angry Christmas lovers, because you got it wrong?
Hark! Let's hear it for Mark!
Here comes the heart warming story of Mark Harnishfeger from Pennsylvania. If you want the full story, here is the article by Greg Norman: https://www.foxnews.com/us/pennsylvania-man-colorblind-views-christmas-display.
Every year Mark spends the entire YEAR setting up his house with Christmas lights, even going as far as linking up the light display with a local radio frequency. He is definitely on Santa’s nice list, but there is one small hiccup. He can’t see red or green. All year round he has to ask his family: “Is this right?” “Is this red?” “Is this green?”. After hearing about it in the local news, Enchroma kindly sent him a pair or colour corrective glasses. Now he sees the lights the way they are meant to be seen. He says that the glasses will come in handy next year when he does it all over again.
Not only is this about convenience, but imagine spending all that time on something you can’t fully enjoy at the end of it. It must be a little sad spending so much time and energy to spread joy and holiday spirit, but you can’t see it yourself (that sounds like a plot to a bad Disney movie). In case any of you are wondering, I am firmly in the minimal effort camp when it comes to decorations. Normally it's the rest of my family that put up the decorations, because my heart is a black lump of coal. See, I like to sleep at night, but having a bedroom overlooking the street, there is the constant blink of Christmas lights in my room, so I’ve been red lining since the start of December.
Alright that's Christmas blog number two. Expect more tomorrow! To re-cap, Chrsitmas looks a bit different when you're colourblind. Something as common as Christmas lights and decorations can be taken for granted by the normal-sighted, while the colourblind out there might not even know what they are missing. Hey, maybe I’ll even appreciate my neighbours lights more this year when I view Christmas through my rose-tinted glasses.
See you again tomorrow. Two more sleeps!
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