[nabs-l] backpacks are unprofessional?

[Joe Orozco]

Jamie,

If I don't go straight from the office to class I go from the office to the
gym, and on those days it would be a pain in the ass to have to carry a
laptop bag and another bag for a change of clothes.  So, even though my
office building is smack in the middle of downtown DC, and even though I
reckon everyone else in my building would never think to bring in a
backpack, I haul mine around because it's practical.  I mean, I dress to fit
the image.  I'm not going to show up wearing a backpack when I'm tripped out
in a suit, but I figure the professionalism lies in what I do, not in what I
carry.  So, majority or not, I'm with you on this one.

Joe Orozco

"Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity."--James M.
Barrie
-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Jamie Principato
Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2009 11:55 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] backpacks are unprofessional?

I can kind of see where your professor is going, but at the same time I
don't think he understands how inconvenient and impractical it is for a
blind professional to carry around a messenger bag or briefcase. I don't
know where I'd be if I was suddenly told I couldn't carry my backpack on my
back. A messenger bag throws me off balance and I tend to move diagonally to
the side the weight is on if it's heavy (which we all know it would be.). It
also makes it more difficult to use my cane, and the weight can be rather
painful and potentially harmful. I can understand if I was driving into town
to do this work, but if I'm walking and using public transit, it just isn't
practical... And frankly, our bags are heavier (usually) than a sighted
persons, what with the weight of any braille or large print materials we'd
be carrying, laptops, note-takers, magnifiers, things that may be needed for
the dog (not sure about that one since I don't use a dog, but I imagine it's
a possible added weight). It just makes more sense to use both shoulders
instead of one or just your hand.

I don't think it looks unprofessional to be carrying a backpack. I mean, if
a blind person was doing business with me and they had on a barbie doll or
spider man backpack, or it had stickers and buttons all over it advertising
their favorite bands or college sports teams, I have to say that would look
very unprofessional and may lead me to take this person less seriously. But
a simple, organized adult backpack is fine, in my opinion...

However I am not the majority, and I find time and time again that my views
on blindness and other matters differ greatly from those of the majority.

On Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 11:39 PM, Martha Harris
<latinanewschic at hotmail.com>wrote:

> Hi Everyone,
> I'm a journalism major; as part of our magazine production, we have to 
> go out in to the community to sell ads, talk to Lions Clubs, have 
> tables at local events, ETC. We have two conditions: dress 
> professionally, and don't wear a backpack. I totally understand the 
> dress professionally, but what do you all think about backpacks? Do 
> they make us look too much like students and not professionals, and if 
> so, why? As a blind student, would I not be taken seriously because 
> "she doesn't know that everyone else has different bags?" or something
like that?
> Personally, I prefer the backpack. It is painful to have the strap of 
> a messenger bag, satchel, or large purse on my left shoulder with the 
> bag on the right side of my body, and having the strap on my right 
> shoulder with the bag hanging on the left gets in the way of my hand 
> with the dog. Our professor says that since our target audience is 
> permanent residents between
> 35 and 55 years old who live in the two surrounding counties and not 
> students like the traditional college magazine, we shouldn't look like 
> we come from the university when we go into the town. Thoughts?
>
> Thanks,
> Martha
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