[nabs-l] canes and water park rides

justin williams justin.williams2 at gmail.com
Mon Apr 1 04:56:58 UTC 2013


Cane, dog,  what works.  

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kirt Manwaring
Sent: Tuesday, April 02, 2013 12:44 AM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] canes and water park rides

Sarah,
  I know I'm going to spark an age-old debate, and possibly get
reprimanded for being off-topic, but I don't really care right now.  I
don't mean this condescendingly or judgmentally...but, Sarah, the next
time someone asks me why I'm not a dog user, I want to have your
e-mails on hand because they would make my case far better than I
possibly could.  (and, yes, I'm aware how ironic this will sound to
anybody who remembers the stir I created a while back because I wanted
to get a dog and bring him...or her...or whatever to a training
center.)
  And, please, before anybody gets their knickers all twisted up over
this, I'm definitely not anti-dog.  I know some fantastic travelers
who happen to be dog users; I also know some terrible travelers who
happen to use canes instead.  My point is simply that, having the
personality I do where I want to wait my turn like most everyone else,
and hearing the kinds of stories I do from Sarah and from most dog
users I'm acquainted with about how ansy/skiddish/uncomfortable/needy
their dogs are, I'm pretty darn sure I made the right decision for
myself.  This isn't a condemnation, much as some people might construe
it as one.  Canes can certainly bring issues of their own...but my
straight cane won't have a panic attack if I decide to leave it at
home and take my folding cane instead, and vice-versa.
  Anyways, sorry for the rambling...I'm trying to find every possible
excuse I can to distract me from my political science homework,
because Plato's Republic is really hurting my fragile little head
right now.  :)  I really didn't mean this as a knock against competent
dog-users or, really, against Sarah at all.  I just meant to say how
stories like this reinforce my belief that, in choosing not to get a
guide dog, I think I made the right decision for me.
  Best,
Kirt

On 4/1/13, Sarah <coastergirl92 at gmail.com> wrote:
> i can't leave Wizard hoc alone when I go to parks he freaks out
> when I leave him for a few hours to go to a friend's house.
> Besides his trainers told me to none leave him alone unsupervised
> for more than an hour inr 2.
>
>  ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com
> To: "'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'"
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Date sent: Mon, 1 Apr 2013 20:08:50 -0700
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] canes and water park rides
>
> Perhaps you shouldn't bring Wizard under those circumstances?
>
> Mike
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> Sarah
> Sent: Monday, April 01, 2013 7:32 PM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] canes and water park rides
>
> I'm not making my guide dog wait 4 hours for one ride in the
> uncomfortable
> hot weather.  Besides, all the ride operators know me at the park
> anyways.
> I never waited in line before I did for like 2 hours because X2
> broke down
> and sy had to replace a wheel.
> But I'm not making Wizard wait in line er 4 hours  for each ride.
> It's like 2 or 4 hours for each ride and I bought an immediate
> boarding
> pass.  All I have to do is show the paper I bought to the
> operator if they
> don't know me already, and they let me on.
> People are just jealous because they can't do it!
>
>  ----- Original Message -----
> From: Kirt Manwaring <kirt.crazydude at gmail.com
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Date sent: Mon, 1 Apr 2013 20:18:14 -0600
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] canes and water park rides
>
> Sarah,
>   I know you're going to get a lot of flack for what you just
> said, so I'll
> do my best to be gentle.  I know each person's situation is
> different, so
> I'm not judging every blind person who chooses to take that extra
> perk and
> cut through line; for all I know, there really is some other
> disability or
> legitimate need for that accommodation with some of us, so
> farbeit from me
> to condemn everyone wholesale for making that choice.  Still, and
> I feel
> very strongly about this, if you are capable of waiting in line
> with
> everybody else, you should.
> Period.  In the past, there have been a few times where I've
> caved in to
> family pressure and broken my own rule; I'm not proud of it, I
> don't always
> measure up to my own standards here, but I nevertheless believe
> very
> passionately that we should not take "accommodation"
> where we do not need it.  If you had no real need to cut in line,
> and it
> sounds like you didn't if you've been able to wait in long lines
> before (if
> I'm wrong please forgive me), you shouldn't have.
> That's
> my opinion, I'm not trying to be harsh because I've certainly
> skipped in
> line a few times before (and invariably felt ashamed afterwords),
> but
> accommodation is only real accommodation if it serves a real
> need.
>  We have enough real needs already to go around taking advantage
> of things
> that just aren't necessary.  Not only is it a waste but it can,
> if we aren't
> careful, send totally the wrong message about blindness.
> Our reputation as people who take and take, without giving back,
> isn't
> entirely unjustified.  If we want to be treated equally, we
> _have_ to have
> it both ways.  If we want equal treatment, we have equal
> responsibility.
> Much as this might seem menial, or irrelevant to the larger
> problems we
> face, waiting in lines is a drudgery that we ought to accept
> cheerfully (or
> at least grudgingly) if we really want equal access to amusement
> parks.  I
> think, for many blind people, the attitude which says it's okay
> to cut in
> line even though we could wait like everyone else is indicative
> of a far,
> far larger problem.  I am, of course, referring to the idea that
> we are
> entitled to special treatment and superior, not equal access.  We
> wouldn't
> phrase it that way...but when we're asking for unnecessary
> extended time for
> assignments (I'm not implying that all extended time is
> unnecessary),
> demanding the right to a dedicated person to take our notes for
> us, begging
> rehab for every piece of the newest and greatest technology and,
> yes,
> cutting in lines at amusement parks...isn't that what we're
> really saying?
> Just my humble opinion, take it for what it's worth.
>   Best,
> Kirt
>
> On 4/1/13, Chris Nusbaum <dotkid.nusbaum at gmail.com> wrote:
>  So they let you cut through the line with a dog, but not with a
> cane?
>  Interesting.
>
>  Chris
>
>  Chris Nusbaum, Co-Chair
>  Public Relations Committee
>  Maryland Association of Blind Students
>  Phone: (443) 547-2409
>
>
>  -----Original Message-----
>  From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> Sarah
>  Sent: Monday, April 01, 2013 9:40 PM
>  To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>  Subject: Re: [nabs-l] canes and water park rides
>
>  Because with my dog, they let me right on, and they watch the
> dog very
> carefully even when someone else is holding it so nobody pets it
> while
> you're on the ride.  With a cane, they will just say "Wait 4
> hours like
> everyone else."
>
>   ----- Original Message -----
>  From: "Chris Nusbaum" <dotkid.nusbaum at gmail.com
>  To: "'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'"
>  <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>  Date sent: Mon, 1 Apr 2013 21:26:25 -0400
>  Subject: Re: [nabs-l] canes and water park rides
>
>  Sarah,
>
>  Just curious: how is Six Flags more accommodating to a guide dog
> user than
> to a cane user?
>
>  Chris
>
>  Chris Nusbaum, Co-Chair
>  Public Relations Committee
>  Maryland Association of Blind Students
>  Phone: (443) 547-2409
>
>
>  -----Original Message-----
>  From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> Sarah Meeks
>  Sent: Monday, April 01, 2013 7:56 PM
>  To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>  Cc: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>  Subject: Re: [nabs-l] canes and water park rides
>
>  My best amusement park experience has always been Six Flags.
>  They are very
>  accommodating.  There you are more accommodating now that I have
> a dog.
>
>  Sent from my iPhone
>
>  On Apr 1, 2013, at 11:22 AM, Kaiti Shelton
> <crazy4clarinet104 at gmail.com
>  wrote:
>
>   Hi,
>
>   Yay for Disney!  they were by far my best park experience.  I
> went  twice
> as a little kid.  The first time I went I was five or six and my
> parents
> also had a baby in a stroller, so the practice for both me and my
> sister
> was to hold onto our brother's stroller to keep with our parents
> and not
> get lost.  My parents just gave me verbal direction  and were
> with me the
> entire time, so there really wasn't a major need  for a cane.
> When I went
>  again as an older kid though, I did have a  folding cane and the
> Disney
> staff was very good about either showing  me tricks to keep it
> with me or
> holding it and then giving it back to  me when I got off, even on
> water
> rides like Splash Mountain and the  Pirates of the Caribbean
> rides which
> start in one place and end at  another.  If you have a folding
> cane you can
> secure it folded with the  loop and then put your wrist through
> the cane
> and  the strap and just  let it hang as you hold onto something.
> It won't
> flop  around as much  as the telescopic cane.  Also, the holster
> idea sounds
> good,  although  some park personelle at other amusement parks
> get worried
> about  it  coming lose.  Either way, you shouldn't have any
> problems with
> getting  the ride people to bring you your cane at the ride exit.
>
>   By the way, Universal Studios was excellent about working with
> the  cane
> too.  I went there in the same vacation that I went to Disney for
> the
> second time and they were very accomodating.
>
>   On 4/1/13, Kirt Manwaring <kirt.crazydude at gmail.com> wrote:
>   Sophie,
>    I'm one of those random oddballs who would probably go alone
> if I  was
> traveling, and there was a really cool theme park near by.
>  I
>   know it's not for everyone, but occasionally doing those kinds
> of "social"
>   things by myself is fun for me; both to keep my confidence up
> and to  meet
> people that I otherwise wouldn't get to know.
>    Anyways, I've taken my straight cane to theme parks no
> problem, but  I'll
> confess I haven't tried a water park with it yet.  A collapsible
> or  folding
> cane seems more reasonable to me there.  On rollercoasters  or
> big rides
> like that, I've almost always just given my straight  cane to the
> ride
> attendant and picked it up when the ride is done,  but those
> rides usually
> start and end at the same place.
>  Waterslides
>   and things are different though, obviously.
>    Basically, I've been reading this thread to see what useful
> bits I  could
> glean from it, as I'll probably be going to a few water parks
> myself over
> the summer.  Maybe this will finally give me the  motivation I
> need to buy
> another collapsible or NFB folding cane.  (I  actually liked mine
> for the
> year or so it lasted, but I used it  sparingly and certainly not
> as my
> primary cane.)  Thanks, all, for  the help and suggewstions.
>    Best,
>   Kirt
>
>   On 3/31/13, justin williams <justin.williams2 at gmail.com> wrote:
>   I would where a belt around my bathing suit, and Use a folding
> cane  with
> a  holster.
>   -----Original Message-----
>   From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> Cindy
> Bennett
>   Sent: Sunday, March 31, 2013 4:25 PM
>   To: National Asociation of Blind Students
>   Subject: [nabs-l] canes and water park rides
>
>   Hi everyone,
>
>   This summer, I am going to a water park.  When I go to theme
> parks, I
> typically store my cane somewhere outside the ride area or on the
> exit
> side  of a roller coaster platform.  However, many water rides
> are such
> that you  get on the ride in a different location, often  quite a
> walk away,
> from the  place where you get off of the ride.
>  My
>   cane is too long to fit in many inner tubes, and I doubt that
> it  would be
> a safe thing to bring along especially if it came loose.
>
>   I am wondering if a telescoping cane would be the best for
> this,  because
> I  know that many water rides have shoe holders.  It would  just
> be
> annoying,  because I would have to rely on someone to guide  me
> back to
> these shoe  holders that are often at the entrance of the ride.
>
>   So what are your suggestions for storing a cane during water
> rides?
>
>   Thanks.
>
>
>
>   --
>   Cindy Bennett
>   Secretary: National Association of Blind Students Legislative
>   Coordinator: National Federation of the Blind of Washington
>
>   B.A.  Psychology, UNC Wilmington
>   clb5590 at gmail.com
>
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>   --
>   Kaiti
>
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