[Blindtlk] Fw: [Nfbf-l] Erik Weihenmeyer on ExpeditionImpossible

Wed Aug 31 21:13:02 UTC 2011

Brian,

It is very difficult, in my opinion, to accurately make the comparisons you are making.  We have two basic problems confronting us.  Blind people need to 
get decent training, and the view of blindness held by the public has to change.  We need to try to make both happen.  To put all of our money into 
assisting with training, especially when some of that responsibility is legally the responsibility of the rehabilitation establishment, would also be putting our 
eggs in one basket as you stated in another note.  Besides, we do a lot to get blind people training by supporting our centers and by our advocacy work.  
Certainly I would like to have seen a closer partnership develop between the NFB and Wahenmeier, but I still expect that his efforts and the showings of the 
films that have been created have likely changed the way many think of blindness in a way that isn't achieved through talk. No investments are certain.  
We put a lot of money into scholarships, but not every scholarship winner becomes a member or is even successful as a blind person.  Still, it is a good thing 
to do.  

It would be easy to make all the right decisions if we could make a decision, see how it works out, and then rewind time and try another decision, but things 
just don't work that way.  Even so, I think that he and we have both gotten a good deal out of our sponsoring him.

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson

On Wed, 31 Aug 2011 15:43:55 -0500, Bryan Schulz wrote:

>dave,

>i have to ask what are you smoking?
>how much change would have been left after buying a nfb flag?
>that is like giving the pizza delivery man a 1,000 bill and saying keep the 
>change.
>A lot of people could have turned out more successful if they were *GIVEN* 
>$300,000 dollars.
>just think how many people could have received the specialized training they 
>need with that amount.

>Bryan Schulz

>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "David Evans" <drevans at bellsouth.net>
>To: <gwunder at earthlink.net>; "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
>Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2011 11:52 AM
>Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Fw: [Nfbf-l] Erik Weihenmeyer on 
>ExpeditionImpossible

>>
>> Dear fellow NFB members,
>>
>> Let us not judge Eric so harshly on this.
>> We are all at different points in our own lives and with dealing with 
>> Blindness.
>> Eric is just doing what interest him right now and His focus is not on the 
>> same things as maybe we are focused on.
>> When we help someone, do we ask "are you a very dedicated NFB member and 
>> supporter before we throw them a safety line and help them?"  Do we do 
>> this with everyone we help to see if they think the way we do, act the way 
>> we do, believe the way we do before we offer our help?
>> Is it not just enough that they need help and they will accept our help 
>> without running a background check on us, our beliefs, politics, religion, 
>> bank account and race?
>> If Eric is busy doing the things that are important and interest him in 
>> his life right now, why should we judge him?
>> Have we all not been in a position in our lives where we did not wish to 
>> get too involved in some matter or cause that someone has approached 
>> about?  A good example would be the last time the Jehovah's Witnesses 
>> knocked on my door with the Mezuzah on the door post.
>> Please believe me when I say that I respect other people's religions, but 
>> I am not exactly going out to attend their meetings, causes or points of 
>> view.
>> It is just the way life is and the way things are.
>>
>> I say that if Eric wants to come and speak, again,  we welcome him and 
>> give him our undivided attention.  If he wants to come and be amongst us, 
>> talk to and with us and take part in our convention and activities, he is 
>> welcome. If he is too busy with the other activities he loves and has to 
>> do, we should support him and wish him well.
>> We have gotten from him about as much as he has gotten from us.  An NFB 
>> flag rests on the top of the highest mountain in the World that he placed 
>> there as the first Blind man to climb it, with our sponsorship and 
>> support.
>> We risked our money and he risked his life.  We got some positive, and 
>> negative publicity just as he did and Eric came and spoke to our 
>> Convention in Atlanta that year.
>> The deal for him to speak to us again, maybe  in the works and maybe not. 
>> If it is, it maybe more in the form of a business deal as he makes his 
>> living now as a motivational speaker surrounding his adventures in extreme 
>> sports.
>> This attitude of, "you are either with us or against us" needs to stop. 
>> It just drives otherwise good people away.
>>
>> David Evans, NFBF and GD Jack.
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Gary Wunder" <GWunder at earthlink.net>
>> To: "'Blind Talk Mailing List'" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2011 4:26 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Fw: [Nfbf-l] Erik Weihenmeyer on 
>> ExpeditionImpossible
>>
>>
>>> No con, just a wish that he had come to see himself as one of us, taken 
>>> not
>>> only to climbing mountains but to talking with people like you and me 
>>> about
>>> how to build a chapter, run our adventure camps, speak to students at our
>>> centers, etc. He climbed the mountain we agreed to help him climb. My
>>> sadness is that he did not sign-on to do the smaller things that made our
>>> support possible.
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
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