There are those times that we all pretend not to see people just because we don’t want to greet them. Well, Carmen Jimenez has taken it to another level.
The Spanish woman who may be one of the worst of anti-social people has let 28 years of her life down the drain pretending to be blind because she couldn’t stand saying hello to people.
A resident of the Recoletos neighborhood in Madrid, Carmen Jimenez did not only get to fool people outside her family, but also her own husband.
Now 57, Jimenez began pretending she was blind 28 years ago after faking an eye injury, before later claiming it had made her totally blind. While the husband described the then purported blindness as a hard blow for the family, he said they had no option but to support her.
Many years, later, the real blow is coming that she had actually been lying all the way. The family had nevertheless suspected her on some occasions as she would try to watch the TV or makeup properly.
According to her husband, “Many times we seemed to see her looking sideways at the television and was always very well made up.”
In defending herself, Jimenez while speaking to Spanish portal Hay Noticia said; “I was tired of seeing people and stop to say hello, I’ve never been very social and pretending to be blind I avoided many social commitments.”
Even though she was able to have most people fooled, Carmen Jimenez may still have a tough way to go. This is because while pretending she was blind, she had received financial assistance from organizations and personal assistance which could now be interpreted as defrauding them. This may pose a serious legal challenge for her.
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While there are questions about the veracity of the report which has gone viral and there are chances that it may as well be untrue, there are people who have actually acted the Carmen Jimenez style by pretending to be blind or pregnant or something else.
In fact, there has been a similar report on a woman in Australia, Rebecca Assie, who had also pretended blindness for 21 years. While the Jimenez’s fake blindness was to avoid greeting people, this was so as to get aid from the government.
With over 2 decades of feigned blindness, she was able to receive $209,000 in payments from the government in the name of disability pension.
Although she had had a license which she renewed while receiving a pension, Assie claimed it was only for the purpose of identification.
After she was found out, however, the Department of Human Services in Australia is now pursuing Ms. Assie to repay the full amount of $209,499.90.
Although both Carmen Jimenez and Rebecca Assie have only ended being caught, another person pretending to be blind, Geoffrey Haywood, 65, died while on the act.
According to The Telegraph, Mr. Haywood who could actually see decided to take a walk and fell into a ditch that caused him his life.
Nevertheless, his brother indicated that the 65-year-old man was actually suffering from psychological blindness which started after the death of their mother.
Before the accident and his death, doctors have checked but were unable to find anything wrong with his eyes. In fact, it was reported that once you dropped money in front of him, he wouldn’t waste any time to pick it.
You will find it very surprising, but there are still many people out there who spend a lot of time and energy pretending to be blind either to gain financial benefits or to gain sympathy or even for other reasons.
Can you ever pretend to be blind for any reason?
