Word had gotten out: Samuel Coleman, who happened to be blind, could foresee the future. It all began one night when Coleman and his friends were hanging out and deciding on a restaurant for dinner. “Given these options, I think the Thai place sounds the best!” said Coleman, who had a hankering for a plate of pad thai and some tom yum soup.
The next day, his friends were abuzz with excitement as they chatted online. “Did you hear how Samuel predicted the Thai restaurant last night would be a hit?” wrote Mason Pullman. “Gosh, you know, I’ve heard about this before. Blind people have an amazing sixth sense, and they can see and feel things us non-blind people can’t. It’s obviously true!”
Coleman’s friends got together and started recalling previous events where he had displayed remarkably spot-on predictions. “Last week, I was about to cross the street when Samuel suddenly stopped me!” said Jennifer Brown, who omitted the part where she had been texting. “How did he know the light was red and the traffic was busy?! The dude’s blind, but he saved my life! I swear Samuel’s a psychic and could foretell the danger I was in!”
After exchanging countless stories, they ultimately agreed Coleman had supernatural foresight. “We should ask him to make football predictions so we can win the office football pool,” said Pullman. “Or pick out lottery numbers for the billion-dollar jackpot!” added Brown.
Coleman soon learned of his friends’ mistaken beliefs about his clairvoyant powers. “I may be blind, and I’m not aware of any supernatural powers, but I CAN hear the traffic light beeping,” he said, shaking his head. “That’s how I knew when it was safe for Jennifer and me to cross the street. Duh!”
While he couldn’t really attest to any psychic abilities, Coleman didn’t want to disappoint his friends either. He was, however, always able to predict one thing, and decided to prolong his friends’ fantasy about him. So over dinner he told them, “Someone tonight is going to stare at me and my white cane, or say I don’t look blind or that I’m an imposter, or better yet start praying for me.”
And before the night was over, his friends were astounded when they noticed glares from another table, and again when a couple placed a St. Lucy medallion in Coleman’s hands as they left the restaurant. “Wow, that’s incredible,” they cried, wide-eyed. “How could you foresee all that?!”