[nabs-l] problem with college cafe

Fri Sep 20 14:24:51 UTC 2013

Karlee,
I think having a friend help is fine… hell, I do the very same thing you are suggesting every now and again. Still, and I say this from personal experience, I found the putting myself in situations where I'm forced to rely on other people, and keep in mind that I making the distinction between being forced and choosing to do it of your own free will every now and again, is inconvenient, inefficient and counterproductive. I used to always get around the way you are suggesting… And it worked probably about 80% of the time just fine. However, those times my friends were sick, or busy with other things, or went somewhere else for the day, or those times when I just wanted privacy and my own personal space and couldn't have it because I needed to rely on other people were absolutely unbearable for me.

Sent from my iPhone

> On Sep 20, 2013, at 6:34 AM, Carly Mihalakis <carlymih at comcast.net> wrote:
> 
> Good morning, Nathan,
> 
>        Find yourself a hot chick, maybe and grab her arm or shoulder. Get help! No man is an island...
> for today, CarAt 11:39 PM 9/19/2013, Kaiti Shelton wrote:
>> 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
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> _______________________________________________
>> >>>>>> nabs-l mailing list
>> >>>>>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> >>>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
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>> >>>>>> nabs-l:
>> >>>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/tyler%40tysdomain.com
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> --
>> >>>>> 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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>> >>>>> nabs-l:
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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
>> 
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