[nabs-l] Philosophy in society

[Joe Orozco]

One day in college while waiting on a Greyhound I encountered a blind guy
taking the same bus.  We were talking about this and that, and when the
subject of jobs came up, I told him I was still in school and thinking about
going into public service after law school.  He tried to evade my question
of him but eventually admitted he worked at the Lighthouse.  I asked why he
seemed ashamed of where he worked.  He said he knew he could be somewhere
better.  I pointed out that it did not matter where he worked, so long as he
was employed.  There's pride in being able to claim to have a job and
earning one's own money, and if he knew he could be somewhere better, it was
probably because he'd given thought to where he wanted to be and shouldn't
stop until he achieved his ambition.

I maintain my position that people who work in the blindness field, either
willingly or through unforeseen circumstances, ought to keep their
occupations in the context of the sighted world in which we live.  The NFB
philosophy understands that the blindness population is a small minority,
that we will never experience a world where everything is laid out exactly
how we would like it to be laid out, and so even though to the seasoned
blindness professional everything is possible through the high expectations
they've cultivated over the years, we can't forget that blind people are as
diverse as the myriad of circumstances they are likely to encounter while
among the general public.  Although the majority of blind professionals are
certainly not this way, I've met a few too many blindness professionals who
carve out such a steep niche for themselves to the point of being snobs.

I think I may've shared a story once of a fellow student who dropped a plate
of food at the National Center and was mortified not because she'd dropped
the plate but because she'd done so in front of a bunch of so-called
distinguished blind leaders.  I've never forgotten that incident, and
honestly, it's made me feel a little edgy every time I've visited the
National Center since then, because for all the talk of how it's supposed to
be our Center, our home, it sure feels like you're being scrutinized under a
microscope.  Should we not have standards to help people become really
highly independent persons?  Of course not.  That's why there's an ACB, but
all I'm saying is to keep things in perspective.  And, yes, I'm kidding
about my jab at the ACB.

No, I am not advancing the notion that blind people who work at the National
Center, or any other blindness facility for that matter, are snobs.  Yet, I
feel there is  a certain rigidity that develops from tackling the immense
burden that is blindness education and advocacy, almost to the point where
blindness development becomes polarized.  However, this is not a
blindness-specific mentality.  It's a state that can impact any profession,
because in my area of nonprofit development I am constantly surprised at the
number of executive directors who become so swept up in their story of
success that anything that deviates from their plot is inadequate and
insufficient.

In short, what's "normal" supposed to mean anyway?  You went, or are going
to, school to pursue your own dreams and aspirations.  It took me a little
while to figure out exactly what I wanted to do, and when I made my
decision, I was something of a disappointment to my family and some friends.
Nevertheless, I love the path I'm on now, and my point to you is to do what
makes you get up in the morning, be it blindness-related or not.  Pick
friends that support you no matter where you head, people that get you,
laugh with you and give you a healthy kick in the ass when you need it.
Sometimes it'll be blind people.  At other times it'll be sighted people,
and sometimes it'll just be the person that happens to come by first.  I'll
tell you this much:  Sighted people don't get it when I condemn JAWS to the
deepest, darkest pit of all things technology that work my nerves, but this
is only because other JAWS users can relate to my frustrations.  This is no
different from excitement I can only share with Sword of Truth fans who get
it when I was eager that Terry Goodkind finally put out a new book.

Anyway, just my two cents.

Joe

"Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves,
some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."--Sam Ewing