[NABS-L] Dining Etiquette

Mon Jan 28 00:58:40 UTC 2019

Evening, Simon and others,

Personally, I was a braille reader for years 
growing up, but at the age of 19, lost such 
ability to appreciate complex, dot patterns.
I harbor no shame in simply, asking waiter  to 
handle per their jobs, seeing too all layers of a 
dining experience, that is, just ask the waiter about the menu.
Car2018, simon bonenfant via NABS-L wrote:
>Hi Folks. As I readÂ  this thread another 
>question comes to my mind. What have you all 
>done about reading menus when they are not in 
>braille? Most places I go to the restruants do 
>not have braille menus. I've heard of people 
>using knfb reader or Seeing Ai or something else 
>to that effect but that has really never seemed 
>to work for me. I find that when I've tried 
>using Knfb Reader to read menus it usually 
>jumbles things together and I end up not clearly 
>distinguishing the price of the ingredients in 
>the dish to the actual dish which makes this 
>task very confusing with Knfb Reader. I usually 
>end up asking whoever I'm with to read me the 
>menu which is fine with me but I'm just curious 
>how others handle this? Thanks. Simon. Sent from 
>my braille note touch. On Oct 27, 2018 9:05 AM, 
>Justin Williams via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> 
>wrote: > > Soups can be a little sloppy, so 
>watch that, and be ware of how much salad 
>dressing you put on your salad, and how big the 
>pieces of the salad are. > > But yes, those 
>items she mentioned are definitely worth 
>consideration because they can be readily 
>accessed without a whole lot of effort. > > 
>Justin > -----Original Message----- > From: 
>NABS-L [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
>Behalf Of Jameyanne Fuller via NABS-L > Sent: 
>Friday, October 26, 2018 11:42 PM > To: 
>'National Association of Blind Students mailing 
>list' <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> > Cc: Jameyanne Fuller 
><jameyanne at gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [NABS-L] 
>Dining Etiquette > > I echo what Tara said. 
>Practice on your own until you feel comfortable 
>with it. In the meantime, if you're out to eat 
>in a professional setting, try to get things 
>that you don't have to cut. They don't have to 
>be handheld, but things like pasta, soup, or 
>salad don't necessarily have to be cut. Though 
>twirling spaghetti onto a fork is another 
>matter. > > -----Original Message----- > From: 
>NABS-L <nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of 
>Tara Briggs via NABS-L > Sent: Friday, October 
>26, 2018 6:47 PM > To: National Association of 
>Blind Students mailing list 
><nabs-l at nfbnet.org> > Cc: Tara Briggs 
><thflute at gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [NABS-L] 
>Dining Etiquette > > Hey Jason! Welcome to 
>eating as a blind person! Weâ€™ve all been 
>there! Probably one of the best things I can do 
>just for you would be to practice when youâ€™re 
>by yourself. He could also start with something 
>like toast and tried cutting up with a knife and 
>fork. Then you can look at what youâ€™re doing. 
>One of the best things you can do is eat small 
>bites! If you lift your fork up and it feels 
>heavy and that might mean at the bite is too 
>big. I hope other people pass on their tips and 
>tricks. I have found that the sharper The 
>knife,Â  the easier it is to cut food. > 
>Tara > > Sent from my iPhone > > > On Oct 26, 
>2018, at 4:21 PM, Jason Perenski via NABS-L 
><nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote: > > > > Hi, > > I 
>hope this is the right place to ask about this. 
>My ability to > > gracefully cut food with a 
>fork and knife is abysmal. This is an > > 
>uncomfortable situation to discuss since dining 
>is so essential for > > social and business 
>situations, and these skills are usually so > > 
>incredibly obvious and second nature for most 
>people. I know everyone > > struggles with 
>something, but as an otherwise independent 
>and > > successful young adult, this topic feels 
>like something I shouldnâ€™t be > > stumbling 
>over. > > > > I don't eat a lot of meat or food 
>that needs to be cut in general, but > > I'd 
>like to look professional in more formal social 
>and business > > settings now that I'm about to 
>leave college. And frankly, I also > > don't 
>want to be the blind person who always orders 
>something handheld > > when eating in 
>public. > > > > Unfortunately, no one taught me 
>when I was younger, which is a > > widespread 
>problem for blind children. I've read some 
>guides online > > about proper table etiquette 
>and how to cut something without looking > > 
>like a slob. And I've even bought playdough to 
>practice with. But I'm > > still lousy at it. 
>I'm curious if anyone here has other tips or 
>tricks > > to get more comfortable and graceful 
>at this. To be as detailed as > > possible, 
>here's what sometimes happens: > > > > 1. I 
>start cutting along the back (convex) portion of 
>the fork, but > > I'm only partially successful 
>at separating a bite. I end up with a > > tiny 
>bit of meat clinging to the large piece and it's 
>difficult to > > tell when I've successfully 
>finished cutting something. This happens a > > 
>lot with larger, rounded cuts, where a good edge 
>to start from isnâ€™t > > available or obvious. 
>I place the fork in and position the knife 
>along > > the back of it, but the thing to be 
>cut extends well past the tines of > > the fork 
>to either side. In theory I should easily be 
>able to tell > > when the knife scrapes the 
>plate and there's no more meat to cut, but > > 
>in practice I'm not always successful at it. > > 
>2. While cutting, I start shifting the thing to 
>be cut around the > > plate and, occasionally, 
>start actually sliding the plate around. I > > 
>don't know if this has something to do with 
>technique or perhaps even > > strength. This 
>happens less and less with experience, but it's 
>still > > uncomfortable when it does. > > 3. 
>This all becomes a bigger challenge with more 
>complicated dishes > > (meat with sauce on top, 
>or plates with several other items). > > > > Is 
>this something you've ever related to, or is it 
>just me? Were you > > taught any alternative 
>techniques that might be helpful? Am I 
>missing > > something obvious? Is my technique 
>possibly incorrect? Are there meals > > you find 
>easier to handle than others? All of this makes 
>me feel like > > a bit of an inept loser for a 
>skill that shouldn't be difficult. If > > you 
>have skills or techniques to make this process 
>more seamless and > > graceful, I'd love to hear 
>them. > > > > 
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