[Blindtlk] Grilling question

Steve P. Deeley stevep.deeley at insightbb.com
Thu Aug 26 00:40:30 UTC 2010 

That's good Mike.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
To: <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 2010 6:53 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Grilling question


> Mari:
>
> I wholeheartedly agree with Gary's ruminations and advice below. He has 
> written so well that I suspect that anything I'll say will be either 
> superfluous or overkill. Nevertheless, i have a few observations and, 
> perhaps, a slightly different take on the situation.
>
> You ask how we have gotten over the roller-coaster of feelings you're 
> currently experiencing respecting your blindness. The short answer is that 
> not all of us have and even for those of us who largely have gotten off 
> the ride, there are days when most of us would rather not be burdened with 
> some of the nuisances of blindness, if only because most of the world is 
> sighted. It's an interesting speculation as to whether if most of the 
> world were blind, would the sighted feel occasionally frustrated. (H.G. 
> Wells, anyone?) The experiences of sighted people at NFB conventions might 
> be of interest but even this doesn't answer the question which, in truth, 
> can never be answered and therefore provides fodder for the 
> #ingalt_history_what-if Usenet newsgroup. (grin)
>
> I certainly do not minimize the difficulties blindness occasionally 
> entails. But the secret to getting beyond the preoccupation with the 
> problems of blindness is to come to the realization that blindness is not 
> the only characteristic of people that can engender difficulties. That's 
> where NFB philosophy is unique: we assert that blindness is like any other 
> trait of humanity. Like anything else, it's a burden sometimes and, if not 
> a blessing, at least neutral at other times. It's easier to talk about 
> this than to actually wrap one's mind around the concept, especially when 
> one experiences problems in a given situation as you are experiencing re 
> transportation. It may help to realize that anyone without a car might 
> have the same problem in your area, be such person blind or not. The 
> fallacy many of us blind persons fall into is the assumption that were we 
> sighted, we'd all be driving.
>
> The person who said that blind people on their own may be more limited 
> than are the sighted in choosing where to live is also right, at least if 
> one assumes that all sighted persons necessarily drive (which ainT 
> necessarily so). There's no question that a blind person often must be a 
> bit creative and may have to do things in a different way from the 
> sighted. But this isn't necessarily all bad. But that's hard to grasp in 
> your situation, I am sure.
>
> The best medicine I can think of for the ups and downs is to realize that 
> it's not the blindness per se that's the problem but rather circumstances 
> surrounding it and that these may be gotten around with a bit of 
> imagination.
>
> You might want to look up Dof. Ternigan's speeen: "The Nature of 
> Independence" on the NFB website.
>
> Now I'll get off my soapbox before I suffer from foot-in-mouth disease.
>
> Best of luck.
>
> Mike Freeman
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Gary Wunder" <gwunder at earthlink.net>
> To: "'Blind Talk Mailing List'" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
> Date: Wednesday, Aug 25, 2010 5:44:39
> Subject: Re: [Bltlk] Grilling question
>
>>
>>
>> Hi Mari. I think the way most of us get over the ups and downs is by 
>> living
>> with them so long that they go away, or mostly so. I think there are 
>> times
>> when everyone of us goes through a day when we say "man, I wish the
>> transportation system were better for blind people. What a bummer it is 
>> not
>> to be able to drive my own car!" For many of us, however, we've simply
>> learned to plan, to work out arrangements where we pay people to do 
>> things
>> we can't do or trade them volunteer activities so that what we need gets
>> done. It isn't always easy, and it certainly isn't intuitive. It is
>> something one has to learn, and sometimes it means that we who are blind 
>> or
>> less spontaneous about things we do. If, for example, you are going to 
>> use
>> the pear transit system. You won't decide today at two o'clock that you 
>> are
>> going to the mall and be there by 3:30. You will decide today that you 
>> would
>> like to go to the mall, and you will go there sometime tomorrow. If you 
>> get
>> a stack of mail and don't happen to have technology that will let you 
>> easily
>> read it, you put it in a mail basket and you wait for your weekly visit 
>> from
>> someone who can sort through it and help you make appropriate responses.
>> These things won't seem normal at first, but they will over time, and 
>> they
>> are techniques which have been shown to work.
>>
>> If you can arrange it, I think going to an NFB center is a splendid idea.
>> You will learn many techniques, but more importantly you will learn a
>> different way to think about being blind. I think it is a stretch to say
>> that I think of blindness as a blessing, but it is no exaggeration to 
>> look
>> at my life and admit that though blindness has cost me some 
>> opportunities,
>> it has also given me some. It has limited some of my decisions and has 
>> made
>> others possible. I don't know if I would have gone to college were it not
>> for the vocational rehabilitation program that offered to pay every red 
>> cent
>> that it took to get me through school. I doubt that I would have the 
>> current
>> job I have, or probably even the jobs before it. Most likely I would have
>> followed in the footsteps of my father who ran a successful excavating 
>> and
>> construction business, and who knows where I would be now. I might be
>> substantially better off based on thirty-five years of building a quality
>> business, or I might be suffering through the significant recession which
>> now finds many people in the construction industry out of work and 
>> fighting
>> to keep their own homes.
>>
>> I think the key to being happy is captured, at least to some degree, in 
>> the
>> words of the serenity prayer, and then having the humility to be thankful
>> for what one has. Maybe if I could write all of the specifications God 
>> used
>> before placing me on the earth, I'd have designed a human being with the
>> brains of Bill Gates, the looks of Brad Pitt, and the sincerity of Jimmy
>> Stewart. As it is, God did the designing, so I'll just do my best to be 
>> Gary
>> Wunder.
>>
>> It is very nice to meet you, Mari, and you'll make it through this
>> transition just fine. You have brains and a good heart. Those two assets 
>> are
>> golden.
>>
>> Gary
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of Mari Hunziker
>> Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2010 6:13 PM
>> To: Blind Talk Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [Bltlk] Grilling question
>>
>> Thank you so much for sharing that Mike. I would love to learn more about
>> the NFB centers. I am now needing more assistance in finding creative 
>> ways
>> of finding transportation for my son to get to and from school each day. 
>> Not
>> being able to drive or to do other things is a constant struggle. I wish
>> there was someway to get over the emotional roller coaster I ride every 
>> day.
>> Some days thinking its a blessing to be blind and other days it is a 
>> curse.
>> How have you all gotten over this?
>> Thanks,
>> Mari Hunziker
>>
>> On Tue, Aug 24, 2010 at 4:35 PM, Mike Freeman <k7uij at panix.com> wrote:
>>
>> > As a matter of fact, one of the things done at our NFB centers is to
>> > do some grilling and other chores that involve working with fire
>> > precisely to get people over their fear of being burned. It's not
>> > thatanyone wishes to be burned but (a) blindness doesn't increase
>> > one's risks assuming one is careful and (b) we want to turn that fear
>> > into what might be termed healthy respect for fire which still allows
>> > one to work with it. At the end of the day, it becomes another lesson
>> > that blindness need not prevent us from leading normal lives.
>> >
>> > Mike
>> >
>> > ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Andrews" <dandrews at visi.com>
>> > To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
>> > Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2010 1:22 PM
>> > Subject: Re: [Bltlk] Grilling question
>> >
>> >
>> >  A totally blind person can grill or smoke.  i have a gas grill, and a
>> >ar large off-set smoker and use them regularly.  I have also grilled
>> >ar with charcoal -- although the gas grill is easier.
>> >ar
>> >ar There are lots of techniques to do stuff.  One good source is our
>> >ar blind cooks list
>> >ar
>> >ar http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-cooks_nfbnet.org
>> >ar
>> >ar Dave
>> >ar
>> >ar p.s.  You mentioned a "fear of getting burned."  Just like with an
>> >ar oven, a pot of boiling water, a gas stove etc., you can get burned if
>> >ar you don't do stuff carefully and correctly, but like with the other
>> >ar things there are ways.
>> >ar
>> >ar
>> >ar At 08:42 AM 8/24/2010, you wrote:
>> >ar
>> >>> Was anyone of you grillers afraid of the fire and the potential for
>> >>> getting burned. That is what keeps me from doing it. We have a
>> >>> charcoal grill/smoker. My brother, father and husband have mastered
>> >>> the great taste of grilled food. I have always thought that I could
>> >>> not grill or do things of that nature because I am blind(visually
>> >>> impaired). I now think it might just be a fear of getting burned. I
>> >>> do cook fairly well in doors, I never thought about trying it
>> >>> outdoors. The next time we grill out. I will have to pay more
>> >>> attention on how it is done so that I may someday try it. Who knows,
>> >>> I may like doing it.
>> >>>
>> >ar
>> >ar                        David Andrews:  dandrews at visi.com Follow me on
>> >ar Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/dandrews920
>> >ar
>> >ar
>> >ar _______________________________________________
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>> >ar ix.com
>> >ar
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
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>> > %40gmail.com
>> >
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