[blparent] NFB and Cane Length (was Introduction andaQuestion from the origenater)

Mon Feb 22 03:12:40 UTC 2016

They now make fiberglass or carbon fiber ones that pull apart, may be easier 
on you.  Can get them through the Independence Market.

Judy

-----Original Message----- 
From: Jo Elizabeth Pinto via BlParent
Sent: Sunday, February 21, 2016 3:55 PM
To: Blind Parents Mailing List
Cc: Jo Elizabeth Pinto
Subject: Re: [blparent] NFB and Cane Length (was Introduction andaQuestion 
from the origenater)

I prefer those folding canes that you pull apart into sections, except that
now that the fibromyalgia is affecting my hands, the sections are getting
hard to pull apart.  The telescoping canes have always felt kind of flimsy
to me, though.

Jo Elizabeth

"The Bright Side of Darkness"
is my newly published novel,
available in Kindle, audio, and paperback formats at Amazon.com.
-----Original Message----- 
From: Star Gazer via BlParent
Sent: Sunday, February 21, 2016 2:24 PM
To: 'Blind Parents Mailing List'
Cc: Star Gazer
Subject: Re: [blparent] NFB and Cane Length (was Introduction and aQuestion
from the origenater)

I love my long canes. They work well at least for me. The problem with the
telescoping canes I've tried is that they collapse easily. They get stuck
and down they go. I don't view my cane as a symbol of anything. I have a
pair of boots and a jacket, along with a few t-shirts that mean more to me
emotionally then my cane does.
As for your boyfriend, remember he's your boyfriend so you like him. To the
man he wanted to help, your boyfriend was... absolutely nothing. The man had
no reason to accept or trust your boyfriend. He probably could have been
nicer, but he didn't have to be.

-----Original Message-----
From: BlParent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jo
Elizabeth Pinto via BlParent
Sent: Saturday, February 20, 2016 1:53 PM
To: Blind Parents Mailing List <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Jo Elizabeth Pinto <jopinto at msn.com>
Subject: Re: [blparent] NFB and Cane Length (was Introduction and a Question
from the origenater)

To be perfectly honest, the reason I have not joined the NFB is because many
members put forth a very rude face to the public when it comes to demanding
equal treatment.  Believe me, I understand where the anger and bitterness
come from.  I've been in the real world as long as anybody else.  We need to
be firm and resolute when dealing with discrimination as it arises in the
media, the courts, etc.  But meeting injustice with anger on the streets
from day to day only leads to public confusion when often, the people who
receive the anger are only trying to be helpful.

For example, my boyfriend offered assistance to a blind man not long ago who
was literally about to step out into the street in front of an oncoming city
bus.  The man snapped at him, saying it was wrong to assume that he needed
help just because he was blind and that he knew exactly where he was going
and how to get there.

My boyfriend--okay, diplomacy isn't his best trait--backed off and told him
that if he was on a career path to becoming a hood ornament, he was headed
in exactly the right direction, good luck.  I don't know for sure that the
blind man was affiliated with the NFB, but he had the typical "I don't need
sighted help" attitude and the super long cane.  He could have been.

As far as the super long canes go, they don't work for me.  I've been given
a lot of crap for that by blind people I know.  I'm a slower traveler since
I lost the last of my light perception and developed fibromyalgia and other
health problems, which I've also been hassled for, but it is what it is.
Frankly, I don't understand those long canes as a symbol of blind strength
or anything else.  I've been told they can make a person travel faster.  If
that works for some people, more power to them, but why does that make the
long canes a symbol of anything?  When I went to a State of Colorado NFB
convention, the only thing the long canes seemed to be a symbol of was the
license to ram other people in the ankles and crowd them out of the way in
the food line.  It would seem to me that a telescoping cane would work
better in most situations because it could be folded up and put out of the
way.  I really am open to an explanation.

Jo Elizabeth

"The Bright Side of Darkness"
is my newly published novel,
available in Kindle, audio, and paperback formats at Amazon.com.
-----Original Message-----
From: Kane Brolin via BlParent
Sent: Saturday, February 20, 2016 8:40 AM
To: Blind Parents Mailing List
Cc: Kane Brolin
Subject: Re: [blparent] Introduction and a Question from the origenater

On 2/19/16, Elizabeth Bowden via BlParent <blparent at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> I'd like to let everyone know that I am also blind, and wanted the
> informN as much as > the mother does.  Also, she is having a problem
> with her email, so I offered to join the > list first so she could see
> what an email discussion list is like.
> Just my 2 cents worth.

Thank you, Elizabeth.  I have seen you on some other lists before, though I
generally lurk on lists more than I participate.

I have come to love the Federation and its subsidiary groups, and I even am
a leader on a small scale.  But I have to say that for me this has been an
acquired taste, because some Federationists overreach and cut off our nose
to spite our face.

One time in the early '90s, I came to visit a chapter meeting in the heart
of Chicago, carrying a telescoping cane that I had purchased through what is
now the Independence Market.  Without even knowing me, a veteran member of
that chapter accused me of "folding up your blindness" because I was not
carrying the full-length, long cane (which in my case stands about 70 inches
high).  I knew I would be riding back and forth on trains, sitting at a
crowded outdoor café, etc.  So I just decided to bring the telescoping cane
with me--as much for convenience as for anything else.  But somehow this man
thought that I probably was trying to hide my blindness from the world or
de-emphasize it by choosing a cane whose length I could collapse.
Utterly ridiculous, as I've dealt with blindness my entire life--some times
more effectively than others--but I've never had an issue with owning up to
this characteristic or with sharing my coping techniques (or other
resources) with those who are curious.  And, being total, it's not as though
I've ever been able to hide it.  What's more,  the style of telescoping cane
I purchased, had been recommended to me by none other than Dr. Jernigan
himself, whom I'd met face to face the prior year. Experiences like this one
were one factor in my not joining up with the Federation actively for more
than 20 years of my adult life.

I don't believe in watering down our principles.  But I think it's best to
practice the Stephen Covey maxim of "Seek first to understand before being
understood."

I will say nothing further in or about this thread.  Thank you for your
indulgence.

-Kane

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