[Flagdu] A Response to Matlida Ziegler magazine

[Patricia A. Lipovsky]

Way to go Marian!!


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Marion Gwizdala" <blind411 at verizon.net>
To: "NAGDU List" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>; "FLAGDU List" <FLAGDU at NFBNET.ORG>; 
<blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, May 07, 2011 4:18 PM
Subject: [Flagdu] A Response to Matlida Ziegler magazine


> Dear All,
>    Below are comments that appeared in the May 2 issue of the Matilda 
> Ziegler Magazine and my response.
>
> Fraternally yours,
> Marion Gwizdala
>
>
> In response to Feature Writer Alena Roberts - Deciding When to Take Your 
> Guide Dog With You
>
> I would like to express my opinion on the question posed by Alena Roberts; 
> namely, when to take and when not to take your guide dog. I come at this 
> from a point of view which Alena may not have expected--I am a blind 
> person who has always used a cane and does not want a guide dog. I have 
> sometimes not understood why my dog using friends drag their dog along. 
> Here is a scenario which is difficult for me to understand.
>
> You are taking a cab to a restaurant, maybe by yourself, maybe to meet a 
> friend. You will then take a cab home.
>
> 1. You go from the door of your house to the cab.
>
> 2. You go from the cab to the door of the restaurant, where the host or a 
> waiter/waitress helps you find a table.
>
> 3. You repeat the process in reverse, restaurant to cab, cab to home.
>
> You are not really doing any independent travel. Why, then, do you need 
> your dog? It seems to me that it's a lot of trouble and hassle to take a 
> dog on such an occasion, not to mention that the dog may be in the way at 
> the table, or in the cab. Why not use your cane?
>
> I don't even understand why Ms. Roberts says she "dislikes using a cane. A 
> cane is merely a tool, like a hammer or screw driver. I use it when I need 
> it, and I'm glad to have it. I can't even imagine wanting a dog.
>
> Tim Hendel
>
> Huntsville, Alabama
>
> Dear Editor,
>
>
>
>            I am writing in response to the comments made by Tim Hendel in 
> your Readers' Forum of May 2. Mr. Hendel seems to contradict himself 
> several times, leading me to believe he has not critically examined his 
> own position. On the one hand, he asserts that blind people, when 
> traveling to a restaurant by cab, are not doing any independent traveling. 
> He supports this position by stating that, once a blind person gets inside 
> the restaurant, the host or waiter helps them find a table. And how does 
> the person get inside the restaurant, if not independently? Though Mr. 
> Hendel does not specifically state so, am I to assume that the "help" to 
> which he refers might be a sighted guide? Are we to also assume that, 
> should the blind person wish to use the bathroom while at the restaurant, 
> this should also be accomplished using sighted guide? Furthermore, when 
> Mr. Hendel takes a cab to the restaurant, does he leave his cane behind 
> like he contends guide dog users should their dogs? After all, what need 
> has he of a cane, since he is not doing any independent traveling?
>
> Mr. Hendel engages in sanctimonious rhetoric when asserting that the cane 
> is a tool, "like a hammer or a screwdriver. He fails to recognize that the 
> same is true of a guide dog. I wonder if Mr. Hendel drives screws with a 
> hammer and pounds nails with a screwdriver!
>
> If Mr. Hendel uses his cane when traveling by cab to a restaurant, his 
> assertion that a guide dog user has no need for a guide dog is fallacious! 
> I appreciate his statement that he cannot imagine wanting a dog. Likewise, 
> I cannot imagine not wanting a dog. I have had a dog in my life since I 
> was four years old. When I lost my sight, a guide dog made perfect sense 
> to me! I also use a white cane and travel just as independently as with my 
> dog. It's all a matter of choice which tool I use. Should I use a claw 
> hammer or a rubber mallet? The choice is based upon which is most 
> effective for the job to be done. I also have a sledge hammer but I only 
> use it when beating others over their heads with self-righteous 
> indignation!
>
>
>
> Marion Gwizdala, President
>
> National Association of Guide Dog Users (NAGDU)
>
> National Federation of the Blind
>
> President at NAGDU.ORG
>
> Tampa, Florida
>
>
>
>
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