[nabs-l] Serving Yourself Food

Beth thebluesisloose at gmail.com
Thu Nov 13 12:43:42 UTC 2008 

Good idea.  I'll have to go sometime, but how do I deal with the staff
problem now whle I don't have a tray?
Beth

On 11/13/08, Ashley  Bramlett <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:
> Beth,
>
> If you want to shop at Walmart or somewhere paratransit is not a good idea
> since they can be unreliable keeping you waiting or come before your are
> finished shopping.
>
> I'd suggest getting a ride.  Much easier said than done.  I had that problem
> too.  But ask around.  Ask your hall mates.  Ask your roommate if she
> drives.  Any friendly faculty or staff?  Once or twice a nice nursing
> faculty member gave me a ride to the mall.  If you do get a ride offer to
> pay gas or something for it.
>
> Ashley
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Beth" <thebluesisloose at gmail.com>
> To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 10:34 PM
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Serving Yourself Food
>
>
>> Good idea.  However, I have a problem with the paratransit bus
>> service.  Since I live in a dorm, I can't necessarily designate a
>> place for the paratransit driver to pick me up.  Worse, I have to wait
>> an hour more than necessary for them to pick me back up.  Hence, my
>> friend and I have nicknamed it "dial-a-wait."
>> Beth
>>
>> On 11/12/08, Linda Stover <liamskitten at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Beth,
>>>
>>> What about paratransite?  I have a friend who schedules them to take
>>> him to a particular place, and then pick him up in their next window
>>> of opportunity.
>>> Courtney
>>>
>>> On 11/12/08, Beth <thebluesisloose at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Good thinking, Heather.  Trick is to get someone with a car to bring
>>>> me down there.
>>>> Beth
>>>>
>>>> On 11/12/08, H. Field <missheather at comcast.net> wrote:
>>>>> Hi Beth,
>>>>> Take your own tray to the dining hall with you.
>>>>>
>>>>> Places like Walmart have a huge array of tray choices, many of them
>>>>> value for money. Spend half an hour choosing the inexpensive tray that
>>>>> would most fit your needs. Then, simply take your own tray with you to
>>>>> all of your meals in the dining-hall. This will improve your ability
>>>>> to be independent and will lessen the ability of others to impact your
>>>>> day.
>>>>>
>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>
>>>>> Heather Field
>>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>>> From: "Beth" <thebluesisloose at gmail.com>
>>>>> To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
>>>>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>>>>> Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 4:02 PM
>>>>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Serving Yourself Food
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Thank God I found this e-mail, Arielle.  I'm having a huge problem
>>>>> with staff at my dining hall who are not willing to help me get my
>>>>> food or serve myself.  Since I have to hold a cane in my right hand
>>>>> and since they don't have trays and since the stations are mre than
>>>>> one and helter-skelter and since nobody taught me how to maneuver
>>>>> around that big cafeteria, I'm blown away by how rude the staff has
>>>>> behaved lately.  During peak hours, I'd walk in and say that I needed
>>>>> some help, and nobody helps out.  Their excuse?  Short staff.  I spoke
>>>>> to a few people on the matter, and since the cafeteria people aren't
>>>>> willing to help, they say I should talk to a manager about this.  I
>>>>> wish I could see now so that I could serve myself and not have to hold
>>>>> a cane in my right hand and not have to be so precise with holding
>>>>> stand-alone bowls and stuff.
>>>>> Beth
>>>>>
>>>>> On 11/12/08, Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> With serving food as a blind person there are two issues. The  first
>>>>>> is knowing what you're dishing out without seeing it, and the second
>>>>>> is properly maneuvering the food with the utensils from the serving
>>>>>> container to your  plate and ensuring that you are dishing up an
>>>>>> appropriate  amount.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> To resolve the first issue, since touching is not really an option,
>>>>>> the best thing is to get information--either from people ahead of
>>>>>> you
>>>>>> in the buffet line  or  from whomever is serving the food/setting up
>>>>>> the buffet. Obviously once you've learned the  order of the buffet
>>>>>> once,  it'll be easier to go back and serve  oneself independently
>>>>>> the
>>>>>>  second time  around. When serving "family-style"  and passing
>>>>>> dishes
>>>>>> around the table,  this problem is virtually nonexistent since it's
>>>>>> easy to find  out  what someone has passed  you before serving
>>>>>> yourself from it.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The second issue, though, is one that does take practice to overcome
>>>>>> especially for those of us who  were not expected to serve ourselves
>>>>>> growing  up. I wasn't really expected to do it at all until I was a
>>>>>> teenager, which  caused  me to struggle a bit with the mechanics of
>>>>>> maneuvering  the food and  gauging the portion size. I improved at
>>>>>> this  a lot when I was in training at  the Louisiana  Center where
>>>>>> we
>>>>>> had to serve ourselves in a buffet line (with sleepshades  on)
>>>>>> whenever someone prepared their final cooking project (a meal for
>>>>>> forty). Like others  have said, operating the utensils correctly
>>>>>> does
>>>>>> take practice and trial and error. A training center is a great
>>>>>> place
>>>>>> to develop this skill because everyone else is practicing, too, and
>>>>>> so
>>>>>> there's  not  as much pressure to do it exactly right or move
>>>>>> quickly
>>>>>> through the line. You can also  practice by  cooking yourself
>>>>>> something and transferring some of it from one  container to
>>>>>> another
>>>>>> (even if  it's just Ramen or  Easy Mac).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> To gauge portion sizes  I've used two techniques.  One is  to feel
>>>>>> how
>>>>>> much weight I've added to  my  plate  or  bowl and how the weight is
>>>>>> distributed. The other,  if it's  hot or steaming food that  I'm
>>>>>> serving, is to hold my hand a little above the  plate/bowl and  feel
>>>>>> how much heat is rising from the food  and how far  it is spreading.
>>>>>> If I don't have enough food, there won't be much heat and it'll be
>>>>>> confined to one little spot instead of spreading across a wide area.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> One more thing that hasn't come  up yet is the  proper way to serve
>>>>>> soup, stew, etc. with a ladel. I used to have the toughest time with
>>>>>> this  until I went to the center and figured  out what my problem
>>>>>> was.
>>>>>> Because ladels have a sharp curve in the middle, when I was holding
>>>>>> the  handle straight, the bowl part of the ladel was actually
>>>>>> tipped
>>>>>> and I was spilling stuff before I could get it in the bowl. I had to
>>>>>> figure out how to angle the handle (so it felt crooked) but the bowl
>>>>>> was actually facing straight up. I think other  blind  people have
>>>>>> been fooled by this deceptive handle as well which is why I bring it
>>>>>> up. You can practice this by playing  with an  empty ladel (like
>>>>>> while
>>>>>> you are doing dishes) and hold  the bowl in your non-dominant hand
>>>>>> while  you  angle the handle with your dominant one. Bend the handle
>>>>>> until you can feel that the  bowl is  facing straight up (even
>>>>>> though
>>>>>> the handle will feel crooked) and then try to remember the angle
>>>>>> when
>>>>>> you are serving things with the ladel.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> HTH,
>>>>>> Arielle
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On 11/12/08, Serena <serenacucco at verizon.net> wrote:
>>>>>>> I pretty much use the same type of bowl, what we Italians call a
>>>>>>> maccaroni
>>>>>>> bowl, so i usually just put as much maccaroni in there as will fit.
>>>>>>> I
>>>>>>> love
>>>>>>> to eat! lol  Meat is trickier, but I usually have only one piece of
>>>>>>> that,
>>>>>>> anyhow.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>>>>> From: "Harry Hogue" <harryhogue at yahoo.com>
>>>>>>> To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
>>>>>>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>>>>>>> Sent: Monday, November 10, 2008 9:53 PM
>>>>>>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Serving Yourself Food
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Serena, this may sound like a slightly silly question, but do you
>>>>>>> learn
>>>>>>> what
>>>>>>> an appropriate portion size is by weight, etc, or by how many
>>>>>>> ladle-fulls,
>>>>>>> spoon-fulls, etc? I have never really wanted to do that because I
>>>>>>> didn't
>>>>>>> want to slowly anybody down or look awkward, etc. But I agree it is
>>>>>>> important...
>>>>>>> Harry
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> --- On Sun, 11/9/08, Serena <serenacucco at verizon.net> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> From: Serena <serenacucco at verizon.net>
>>>>>>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Serving Yourself Food
>>>>>>> To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
>>>>>>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>>>>>>> Date: Sunday, November 9, 2008, 6:47 PM
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hi Harry
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I always serve my own food at home with immidate family.  I think
>>>>>>> it's
>>>>>>> important to learn that skill.  At family gatherings and on buffet
>>>>>>> lines,
>>>>>>> however, others do it for me cause we're all having pretty much the
>>>>>>> same
>>>>>>> things.  Even at State Convention this weekend, there was a survor
>>>>>>> serving
>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>> breakfast buffet to everyone.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Harry Hogue"
>>>>>>> <harryhogue at yahoo.com>
>>>>>>> To: <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>>>>>>> Sent: Sunday, November 09, 2008 5:39 PM
>>>>>>> Subject: [nabs-l] Serving Yourself Food
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hello everyone,
>>>>>>> With the holidays coming up, here's an interesting point for
>>>>>>> discussion.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> At family gatherings, or perhaps even at home with immediate
>>>>>>> family, do
>>>>>>> you
>>>>>>> serve your own plate or do you have someone else serve the plate
>>>>>>> for you?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> As for me, I have always had someone else always serve my plate at
>>>>>>> family
>>>>>>> gatherings and at home with my family, for that matter, simply
>>>>>>> because it
>>>>>>> is
>>>>>>> quicker and there is less risk of spilling, etc. I am, however,
>>>>>>> reminded
>>>>>>> of
>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>> importance of being comfortable with this task by my Costa Rica
>>>>>>> experience.
>>>>>>> My
>>>>>>> host mother told me what was where and even made sure I knew where
>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>> serving
>>>>>>> spoon was--but I was not comfortable at 20 years old to serve my
>>>>>>> own plate
>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>> had to ask her to serve the plate for me. This, then, set up a
>>>>>>> precedent
>>>>>>> that as
>>>>>>> a blind person I needed help with getting food.
>>>>>>> 'm interested in hearing ohter thoughts. And if we serve ourselves
>>>>>>> at
>>>>>>> home/at family gatherings, I then have to ask what is so diferent
>>>>>>> about
>>>>>>> buffets,
>>>>>>> especially if you're with someone else and they're getting rice,
>>>>>>> chicken, potatoes, etc. and it's likely you would want some of the
>>>>>>> same
>>>>>>> things.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Just some thoughts to consider.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Harry
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>>
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>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>
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