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

[David Andrews]

    David:  You may be right, but I will say that as you know we were 
one of his sponsors when he climbed Mount Everest.  I think it cost us a 
bunch of money, like a quarter of a million dollars.

Afterwards, I saw him speak at the CSUN Technology Conference, about his 
climb, and he never mentioned the NFB once.

If he doesn't need us, then we don't need him!

Dave



On 8/31/2011 11:52 AM, David Evans wrote:
>
> 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.