TOMMY: Here's a video you guys have wanted for a long time. [music plays]
One of the most popular requests we get in the comments is for me to sit down and talk with somebody who's lost their vision later in life so today I'm joined by Christine Ha. How are you?
CHRISTINE: Good. Thanks for having me, Tommy. TOMMY: Thanks for being here. Now tell everybody a little bit about yourself and also how your sight. CHRISTINE: Sure. My name is Christine Ha. If you recognize my name, I won Master Chef season 3 quite a few years ago but I am the first contestant and winner who is blind on Master Chef and I lost my vision from an autoimmune condition called Neuromyelitis Optica or NMO which means my optic nerves atrophied overtime.
TOMMY: At what age was that? CHRISTINE: I lost my vision in my 20's so I would say starting about 17 years ago or so but it was very gradual so it was overtime like maybe 7 years.
TOMMY: So today we're going to explore the differences someone who's blind since birth myself or somebody who's lost their sight later on in life like Christine has. So Ben is going to ask us about everyday scenarios and we're just going to talk about our experiences. Now after you watch this video, don't forget to go over Christine's channel and see the collab we did over there. You all set?
CHRISTINE: Mm mmm. Feels like a game show.
TOMMY: Well, that's after the bonus round. BEN: Can you describe what you're able to see? CHRISTINE: I see what the doctors call counting finger in both eyes at about 10-12 inches... that's medically speaking. For layman's terms, I'd say I see some light, some shadows, very foggy, I describe it mostly as though if you were to come out of a very hot shower and you looked into that really steamy mirror because it's all fogged up - that's kind of what I see. That's my world. So I see just some shape and fog. TOMMY: Well, me... I don't really see anything. I have a little bit of light perception, although I have cataracts now so it's gotten fairly dark. I don't see any shadows. I don't see any color. There's nothing. [music plays]
BEN: When you dream, do you see images like someone who is sighted or are you blind? CHRISTINE: THat's a really good question. I still dream in full vision and I find myself often very sad when I wake up and it's not true. So I still see color. I still see things that I remember from having been able to see before so I still imagine myself as my 20-something year old self. So it will also be quite sad when I --- if I ever got my vision back because I would see in the mirror how much I've aged. BEN: Is there ever a time where you do remember... CHRISTINE: All the dreams that I remember that I've dreamt have been in full vision. I'm walking around independently completely in my dreams doing things as I used to do when I had full vision.
TOMMY: When I dream, I don't see anything because my subconscious doesn't know how to see therefore I can't see in my dreams. Right? See, Christine remembers what it's like to see in her brain, but for me I don't. So I dream in my other four senses. I can smell, taste, touch, and hear in my dreams, but I don't see anything.
CHRISTINE: Your dreams are still very vivid with those other senses I presume.
TOMMY: Very much so. Yeah. [music plays]
BEN: If any, what do you consider some perks of being blind? CHRISTINE: Ooh, Tommy, you go first.
TOMMY: Really? Want me --- alright, I'll tell you. For me, some of the perks of being blind include things like riding the train. There's a train line back in Connecticut where I'm from and it goes between Connecticut and New York City. And I never buy ticket because I get on the train and then I'll have a seat and probably 8 times out of 10 they won't ask me for a ticket. It's incredible. So that's a good one. I get on planes first which is always great but the problem is I get off last. CHRISTINE: Oh, yeah, when you're flying by yourself. Yeah. TOMMY: Another thing that I really like is I don't really watch people age too much. Which I like that too.
CHRISTINE: Definitely pre-boarding. Pasing up the line at TSA security check in. I feel like my friends who travel with me or my husband who travels with me finds it more of a perk than I do but they're like "Whip out that cane so we can skip the line." So I think it's definitely an advantage. I find that I'm much less judgmental than I used to be. I think because I don't like being judgmental, but everyone has a little bit of judgmentalism in them, I think, that can't be helped just by based on how you grow up or what you're exposed to, but now I cannot base anything people's appearances. I really cannot judge a book by its cover and I'm glad about that. [music plays]
BEN: What's something that you wish you could do but you can't because of you're blindness?
CHRISTINE: Driving. [no speaking] TOMMY: A little more? Do you want to talk about that, or no? CHRSTINE: Oh, I think it's because I always loved to drive ever since I started driving when I had vision. It makes me feel very independent. I grew up an only child. I lost my mom when I was young, so being independent was very much a part of me. I loved running errands by myself. I loved, like, doing a lot of things by myself using my car as a vehicle. So when I lost my vision I think that's what I missed most. I used to drive a manual so I found it fun. Driving was kind of, I wouldn't say a hobby, but it was definitely something I like to pass the time with. It was kind of my alone time. Second most thing I miss is watching foreign films with subtitles. TOMMY: For me, I would like to catch a ball. I'd like to be able to catch a ball and not have somebody go, "Alright, Tommy, here it comes now. Hands out. Get ready!" I'd like to just be able to reach up and catch one. You know what I mean? It'd be so cool. I'd like to be able to use the computer without speech. You know what I mean? I'd like to be able to look at the whole screen and see a bunch of stuff all at once and just pop, pop, pop. I mean, sighted people whip through the computer so fast, it blows my mind. I'd like to be able to do that. [music continues]
BEN: Do you keep your eyes closed, or open, and why?
CHRISTINE: For me, I keep my eyes open because I still retain some vision so I'm trying to use as much sensory intake as I can. TOMMY: I keep my eyes shut most of the time. I really do. To keep my eyes open, it's using muscles I'm not really not used to using so it's very fatiguing. I get very tired... after keeping my eyes open for a couple of minutes even. It's a lot of work to keep them open for me. So, I much more relaxed with my eyes shut. CHRISTINE: You need little weights for your eyes lids. [music plays]
BEN: Would you rather have lost your sight, or born blind?
CHRISTINE: Oh, that's also a tough question. I think that I only know my paradigm. So I think I would say I am glad that I had vision and then lost it although I can see someone's point of view maybe from the way, but I feel like I can remember what my husband John looked like when we met. I can remember colors. So for me I am glad that I lost my vision later in life. TOMMY: I think if I had vision and lost it, I don't think I would be as much fun as I am today. I think I would be a real crank. I think I'd very angry and upset. I feel so much better knowing what I'm not missing. Right? If I knew what I was missing, I think I'd be very upset about it. This way, I don't know and I can completely do things my own way and it's all good. To know what I was l missing I think would really drive me crazy. [music continues]
BEN: If you could have surgery that would help you see, would you do it? CHRISTINE: Oh... Yes, for the sake of my husband so he doesn't have to drive me around anymore.
TOMMY: You know, yes, I would have to try it. Although, I think you know, I've said before. I think if I were able to get sight, I think I would have tremendous headaches the first few weeks of it. Because of all this brand new information to process that I never experienced in my life before. So, you know what, I'd love to try it and as I always say, I guess if I didn't like it I could just keep my eyes closed and it would be back the way I like. But I'd have to try it.
BEN: Do you have a question for each other?
CHRISTINE: I'm curious to know because you're know as the Blind Film Critic, what are some of your favorite movies?
TOMMY: Goodfellas. I love that movie. It might not be your thing. CHRISTINE: I like Goodfellas.
TOMMY: Oh, good. Alright, good for you. I love Clerks. The Kevin Smith thing. I mean, it's all dialogue driven. It's wonderful. The one that will surprise you is a film called Hugo from a few years ago.
CHRISTINE: Okay. TOMMY: It's a Martin Scorsese thing. It's a 3D one. And I hear 3D and I panic instantly. I'm like, oh, this can't be good. And that movie was wonderful, just from start to finish. It was so compelling and captivating and I just fell in love with all the characters and all the situations. Manchester by the Sea. Moonlight is wonderful. CHRISTINE: I really enjoyed that.
TOMMY: Yep, yep. Alright, I'm going to ask you this question. How do you pick out clothing as a woman? Because I know it's important to look nice and everything. So how do you do it?
CHRISTINE: Good question. I rely heavily on my girlfriends and my cousin so the female friends in my life that know fashion and know my tastes as well, because also what I buy ends up kind of being a result of my friends tastes. But they know my tastes and it kind of mixes with what they like. But I'll tell them this is what I'm looking for and then we'll go shopping together either online or in store and then they'll describe me things, then I'll try it on. So that's how I go shopping. I wish I could do online shopping more but I found that descriptions on a lot of websites are not very descriptive when you're using your screen reader so... for example, some makeup brands will call their colors things like "LSD" or things that I'm like, well, what does this mean? Like, is it very colorful or what is this color? I've spoken about it before... the importance of designing your website well and adding descriptions. Not trying to be all like smart with your description but sometimes we just need straight forward descriptions of things.
TOMMY: Christine, thank you so much for me being on the channel. It's been an absolute pleasure having you here. CHRISTINE: It's my pleasure. Thanks for having me.
TOMMY: Don't forget to go over to Christine's channel for the collab we did there. I'm a guest on "Christine Tries" and for this one we try Japanese snacks. Oh, I'm in trouble I think. We'll put the link in the description and on screen as well. Alright, Christine, I'll do one of those things that sighted people do to us sometimes. Listen, I'll hear you soon, okay?
[Christine laughs] [music continues] Well, thank you so much for watching. I hope you enjoyed it. And of course if you have any other questions. I would love to hear them. So leave them in the comments below or you can hit me up on Facebook and Twitter and ask me questions there too. Well, I suppose you might say this video was 'open and shut', huh? [laughs]
