[blindlaw] I'm Confused - RE: Canes and Blindness along withthechanging color of the cane

[ShaunR]

Hello,

I'm new to the list, and it's been interesting following this
conversation thread. I can definitely see the merit in both points of
view, and ultimately, it seems to come down to one's personal
perspective. I for one enjoy the communication aspect of my white
cane, despite the stigma/preconceived notions that it brings, but I
see nothing wrong with a person deciding to change the color of their
cane if they choose. Yes, they may be losing an- at times- useful
communication tool, but the white cane does come with real downsides,
and they should feel free to abandon it if they wish.

Personally, I like the communicative power of the white cane I carry.
Before I began carrying a cane, I constantly found myself in awkward
situations with sighted people. Whether I was bumping into people,
missing extended hands, mysteriously tripping over stuff, stepping on
toes or the legs of people sitting on the ground or having thrown
items bounce off me, I always struggled with the problem of when and
when not to provide information about my eyesight. Half the time, when
I did decide to let them in on it, I found that they didn't really
understand the explanation anyway. The white cane cuts through all
that mucky nonsense with people I don't know, and people I do know
well develop a strong sense of my strengths and weaknesses despite it.

I remember this time I was at a train station in Venice Italy trying
to keep up with my wife and brother-in-law. We were in a tunnel under
the train tracks, and the only light coming into the environment was
from stairwells that went up to the surface. My wife and
brother-in-law could see well, but being nightblind, I couldn't. I was
walking pretty fast, and I bumped into this HUGE guy who stepped out
of a stairwell and right in front of me. I said sorry, but he just
stood there staring at me like he wanted to kill me. Luckily, I booked
it out of there in a hurry, but if I'd stuck around he might have
pummeled me. In that situation, a weapon probably wouldn't have helped
me (he would have just took it away and used it on me), but a white
cane would have diffused the situation instantly.

I like that.

Seriously, though, to each there own. Both arguments have merit.

Shaun Reimers


On Thu, Apr 1, 2010 at 2:17 PM, Steve P. Deeley
<stevep.deeley at insightbb.com> wrote:
> Why don't we just let each city and municipality use what ever color traffic
> lights they choose to install.  Do you know the meaning of uniformity???
>
> Steve
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark BurningHawk"
> <stone_troll at sbcglobal.net>
> To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, April 01, 2010 3:58 PM
> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] I'm Confused - RE: Canes and Blindness along
> withthechanging color of the cane
>
>
>> Can't resist:
>>
>> I, personally,would like to switch the color of my mobility tool
>> because I want it to be *ONLY* that; a mobility tool.  I frankly don't
>> like the associations attached to the white cane as a white cane, nor
>> do I like the color and its connotations of surrender and
>> helplessness.  I don't like the construction o the cane as is,
>> designed above all else to be light and to vibrate easily, allowing
>> for sensitivity to surfaces.  I also think that a cane should serve
>> more than just one purpose as a tool, and in earlier posts I have
>> pointed out that, as a weapon, for one example, the cane as designed
>> now fails utterly.  I can speak from experience to say that sometimes
>> a weapon is a good thing to have--no where did Lao Tsu say "Speak
>> softly and carry a long, slender, flimsy stick." :)
>>
>> Since I find the whole concept of using a long poking / tapping device
>> to find out about your environment to be archaic and clumsy, very
>> narrow-minded thinking, if I am ever forced to adopt such a strategy,
>> I would like said device to serve more than just that poking/tapping
>> purpose.  I also do *NOT* want attention drawn to me over blindness,
>> as I don't identify myself as a "blind man," but rather as a man; I
>> just happen to be blind, and that only some of the time--the rest of
>> the time, I just can't see.  It's this image I prefer to put forth,
>> however misunderstood it might be, to the world; not that of a person
>> who demands the world take note of him as possibly needing help,
>> possibly allowing himself to be led about by the hand, and signaling
>> that he accepts a second-class status.  That's my position on the
>> whole color thing, and my reasoning for the posts I sent last week.  I
>> am not advocating for one second that blindness should be ignored or
>> is something to be ashamed of, but neither is it something to identify
>> with or be proud of in its own right.  Who out there says, "When I
>> grow up, I want to be a blind person!"  Being proud of overcoming
>> obstacles created by others' opposition to / fear of blindness is
>> another thing altogether.
>>
>> Mark BurningHawk
>> Skype and Twitter:  BurningHawk1969
>> Home:  Http://MarkBurningHawk.net/
>> Namaste!
>>
>>
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>
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