[nabs-l] Serving Yourself Food

Serena serenacucco at verizon.net
Thu Nov 13 23:17:01 UTC 2008 

Honestly, I don't see why the staff doesn't wanna help you.  I don't mean to 
say they owe you anything, but I even got help carrying my food in college. 
The trays they had there were simply too big for my really small hands.  I 
think some of the staff weren't too into the idea at first, but then, the 
managers got everybody on board.  I realize now, I could've bought my own 
tray before going to college, but I guess I felt orienting to campus and 
dealing with hiring and firing readers was more important than trying to 
deal with the cafeteria scene.

Serena


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Beth" <thebluesisloose at gmail.com>
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2008 7:43 AM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Serving Yourself Food


> 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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>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>>> nabs-l mailing list
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>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>
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