It's something he likes to do for himself after he's met the person. That way they don't just come into his house thinking of him as, well, handicapped.”
-- Ernest (chapter 2)

Importance: Ernest is explaining why no one had told Genie that Grandpop was blind. There are two important points of Ernest's statement. The first is that Grandpop hates for people to expect him to be disabled because of his blindness, and that he wants desperately for his life to be as normal as possible. This is seen again later when Grandpop becomes angry when Genie refers to Grandma as Grandpop's caregiver. The second important point is that Ernest continues to obey Grandpop's rule, even though Ernest is literally refusing to talk to Grandpop because he is holding a grudge against him.

Thunder boomed and Grandpop braced himself on the edge of the table. It was only for a second, but Genie caught him...
-- Narrator (chapter 5)