Thread: So, was I rude?

Something happened today that has continued to bug me, so I thought I'd check in here to see if anyone has an opinion...

I have worked pretty much sequestered away in a lab for the last couple of decades and am fully aware of my limited social skills. However, today I did something that afterwards gnawed at me because I wondered if what I did was offensive. I was walking in a hallway near the main entrance of the hospital where I work. I saw a blind man with a white cane encountering a wall, turn, go a little farther to encounter another obstacle, turn, and continue to explore. Though lots of people were walking by, no one approached him. By the time I reached him he had pretty much completed a full circle. I asked him if he needed help finding his way, and as I spoke I noticed that he was wearing a hospital ID badge. He told me that he had lost his bearings and didn't know where he was. This lead me to presume that he was completely blind (not everyone with a cane is). I told him that he was in front of the gift shop near the main entrance of the hospital. I though that would be enough information for him to find his bearings. He asked me which way it was to the cafeteria. My immediate thought of course was to point, but that was obviously useless, and my second thought I acted upon without thinking. That was the problem.

He was already aimed in almost the right direction, but without saying anything, I lightly grabbed his shoulders and put a little pressure on them to indicate the direction he needed to rotate. Now, I did not physically turn him. The pressure from both hands indicated the direction I wanted him to turn and the pressure change indicated when I wanted him to stop. I then said it's straight down the hall that way. He thanked me and walked off.

I was immediately mortified and thought for a moment I should catch up with him and apologize for grabbing him that way. I really did it without thinking. It was simply the most immediate way to guide him in the direction he needed to go.

Now, I don't know if he took offense. I certainly can be offensive when I want to be, but usually I offend without having the slightest clue what I did wrong. This was a unique experience for me in that I immediately suspected that what I did was offensive. I felt that I had steered him in the same manner that I used to steer my kids when they were small. I should have asked if I could touch him or could have asked him how he wanted me to show him the proper direction. I hate that I treated him differently because he was blind, but at the same time, I had to deal with him differently because he was blind. I just don't like that I touched him without any warning or permission.

So, how bad was it?