[nabs-l] problem with college cafe

Fri Sep 20 06:39:49 UTC 2013

Hi,

I don't know your entire situation, but here are a few suggestions.
I agree with the views expressed by Kirt, Arielle, Justin, and others.
 I also like the idea of making the cafeteria more accessible to all,
but realistically if the school has too many tables in a room that is
really not big enough for them and extra space, it might not be
possible.
Getting your food in a bag or to-go box does wonders.  I do this all
the time and it makes everything a lot easier for me.  Or, since you
bring your lunch to school, you can skip the cafe if you really don't
like dealing with it that day.  If you usually get a drink from the
cafe before sitting down to eat, try bringing something from home
along with your food.  Or, there is nothing wrong with eating outside
in a courtyard or at a table in an academic building; other students
do it all the time.
If you really want to eat in the cafe though, I would suggest a few
things if you have not done so already.  Check that you're confident
in using your cane skills, as that can be a huge factor in this.  If
you can find an aisle that is more open than others to get from point
A to point B, figure out a route that works for you.  This might
require practice on your own time, but can be worth it.  I would also
try asking cafe staff if they could recommend a way for you to go that
might get you through the cafeteria a little more efficiently than the
way you're using now.  .
As was said, I don't think that this is going to change.  I don't
really see what security can do, and also think that web accessibility
and other matters that can't easily be remedied by individual students
are of more importance to faculty.  Yes, left out chairs is a hassle
and it is a tripping hazard, but it is that way for all students, not
just those who are blind.  They have to push in the chairs to clear a
path too, so the best thing you can do is figure out a way to work
through it to show that you are just as capable a navigator as a
sighted student.

On 9/19/13, Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Nathan and all,
>
> I think there's something to say for only getting your disability
> office involved in matters that are serious and those that directly
> involve blindness. We all agree that chairs being left out are a
> nuisance, and they make orientation a little tougher, but they don't
> pose a safety hazard to blind folks who are using canes or dogs. I
> don't think the problem is serious enough to involve campus security.
> Jamie's redesign idea does sound nice for people with all kinds of
> disabilities, but I don't think the issue is as important as those
> involving campus website accessibility, for example.
> Nathan, I think you are a cane user, but if you're not I would
> encourage you to use a cane at least while you are in the café. It
> might help to get a little orientation through the café and, in
> particular, pay attention to sound cues that will help you find your
> way to the room you're trying to find even if the messy chairs cause
> you to lose your bearings.
>
> Best,
> Arielle
>
> On 9/19/13, minh ha <minh.ha927 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Nathan,
>>
>> There's a big difference between educating the sighted public about
>> what we need as blind individuals and changing bad habits. Yes, you
>> can talk to your DS office and security and have them post reminders,
>> but I would be willing to bet that the issue of chairs sticking out in
>> your way is not going to be resolved any time soon. I have a guide dog
>> now so she just takes me around the chairs or stop so I can nudge the
>> chair out of our path, but when I was using a cane, all I had to do
>> was nudge the chair in a little bit and I would have room to go on my
>> merry way. You could try this simple solution to see if it fixes your
>> problem before tackling other people's lack of courtesy. I also want
>> to remind you that you're not going to have a DS office or a chief of
>> security that you could run to in the real world when people don't
>> have chairs pushed in.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Minh
>>
>>
>> On 9/19/13, Nathan Clark <troubleclark at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Dear Tyler,
>>> As blind people don't we want to educate others around us about what
>>> we need and makes us the most successful and independent? I don't want
>>> to rely on a sighted person who walks with me and pushes chairs for me
>>> for obvious reasons that we all know about. I understand where you are
>>> coming from and I respect your opinion.
>>> Sincerely,
>>> Nathan Clark
>>>
>>> On 9/19/13, Nathan Clark <troubleclark at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Dear Tyler,
>>>> My school's café is not exactly layid out in a way where you can
>>>> travel around the outside by the walls and find the opening to the
>>>> door. Our café has tables that are both pushed up against the wall and
>>>> in the middle of the café so it isn't exactly a easy navigation like
>>>> you thought it was.
>>>>
>>>> Sincerely,
>>>> Nathan
>>>>
>>>> On 9/19/13, Littlefield, Tyler <tyler at tysdomain.com> wrote:
>>>>> first, I'm not really sure what chairs being stuck out has to do with
>>>>> security.
>>>>> Second, I really do think there are much bigger battles to deal with.
>>>>> You could get some person that has to push in chairs after everyone so
>>>>> you have clear paths, but I've never seen clear paths through any cafe
>>>>> regardless where the chairs are. My suggestion is to use your cane,
>>>>> find
>>>>> each individual chair and push it toward the table with your foot. I
>>>>> just balance my tray on one arm and use my cane with the other hand
>>>>> and
>>>>> it works out pretty well.
>>>>> You may also be able to walk around the walls of the cafe (depending
>>>>> on
>>>>> the layout) to get to the room you want to go to.
>>>>>
>>>>> On 9/19/2013 1:16 PM, Nathan Clark wrote:
>>>>>> Dear Nabs,
>>>>>> My name is Nathan Clark and I am one of the quieter people on this
>>>>>> list but I have a situation that I have at my community college where
>>>>>> I would like to have some opinions fro you all. about.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Today as I was walking into my school's café I discovered that almost
>>>>>> every table that I came upon had chairs that were sticking ot where
>>>>>> people had been sitting in and forgot to push their chairs in. My
>>>>>> school had a room off the café where students can eat their lunch in
>>>>>> a
>>>>>> more quieter environment which is where I usually eat my lunch and
>>>>>> that is where I wanted to eat today. However, after struggling with
>>>>>> navigating through the chairs that were not pushed in I just gave up
>>>>>> and sat a different bale and had my lunch. After eating, I went to my
>>>>>> school's Secutrity department and expressed my concerns with them.
>>>>>> The
>>>>>> lady who I talked to is named Sharon and she is not a security guard
>>>>>> but the secretary for the department. She knows me very well and she
>>>>>> knows from previous semesters that I have encountered this problem
>>>>>> before with the café. She helped me schedule an appointment with the
>>>>>> Assistant Chieef of Security on Tuesday.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> My question for you all is should I have scheduled the meeting or
>>>>>> just
>>>>>> dropped the problem. What could be some solutions that I could bring
>>>>>> up to my meeting with the Assistant Chief for Tuesday? If you were
>>>>>> wondering I forgot to say that I talked to my DSS office and they
>>>>>> said
>>>>>> that they would work with the Secutiry department to solve this
>>>>>> problem.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I would like to hear what people have to say and wondering if this
>>>>>> has
>>>>>> happened to other people on the list?
>>>>>> Sincerely,
>>>>>> Nathan Clark
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Take care,
>>>>> Ty
>>>>> http://tds-solutions.net
>>>>> He that will not reason is a bigot; he that cannot reason is a fool;
>>>>> he
>>>>> that
>>>>> dares not reason is a slave.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>> --
>> "All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty
>> recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity:
>> but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on
>> their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible." T. E. Lawrence
>>
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>
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-- 
Kaiti