[nagdu] Some one stole my cane !

Tue Dec 20 20:31:08 UTC 2011

Rebecca,

You're not missing anything, really. It's just that you live in a 
different area, where your assumptions and expectations are reasonable 
in your reality.

Unfortunately, across ever enlarging swathes of the same country, more 
and more of us are increasingly facing a different reality, requiring 
that we operate under different assumptions and expectations.

If you wish to know more about that sort of life for the blind or 
disabled or the sick or injured, please refer to the Encyclopedia 
Britannica under Third World. Or is it World, Third? That should clear 
things up.

Unfortunately, for those of us who have to figure out what to do when we 
can't afford a white cane, the simple and obvious expedient of picking 
up a good straight stick or cutting one from a tree would have the 
unintended consequence of challenging the denial of those who live in 
the same conditions but have not had to face reality the hard way. Yet. 
The results of challenging that kind of denial would give the user of 
the simple and functional stick from a tree an opportunity to a side of 
human nature that is far uglier than simple theft. Especially for 
Mardi... She's already had one guide dog taken onto a bus while she 
herself was refused boarding and then, at the behest of the bus driver, 
had the dog kicked forcibly off the bus.  Another torn by a violent dog 
attack, with no recourse. The loss of the cane is a problem, but not the 
worst result of living where she does.

For further information, refer to the above mentioned reference under 
Civilization, History of. Pay special attention to the parts where 
civilizations fall after rising... Observe which group finds out first. 
Happy reading!

And, yeah, I keep trying to convince myself to throw away a broken and 
barely usable telescoping cane and keep finding it still propped in the 
corner by the back door just in case i absolutely need it. Still nervous 
about stuff like that here, too. I am afraid that I am too aware of 
which reality I live in these days in this place and which way it is 
trending. I would prefer denial, frankly, but I am in one of those 
classes that can least aford it, so...

Tami

On 12/20/2011 06:30 AM, Pickrell, Rebecca M (TASC) wrote:
> But how would a broken cane be of any use to you? Dan's idea of a tree limb works better if only for the length.
> That's like saving old shoes with holes in them. What am I missing?
>
> And if something is truly precious to you and you use it every day, you don't loose it. Or if you do, you have insurance.
> And now I'm wondering if there is a cane buy-back or trade in program somewhere. So if you couldn't use your old stash of canes, could you have traded them for a batch you could use?
>
> You totally lost me with the light cane and the go to meetin cane. I'm sorry. Why not see if you can get one you use normally and then a couple duplicates of that cane?
> What am I missing?
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Tami Kinney
> Sent: Monday, December 19, 2011 5:00 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Some one stole my cane !
>
> Rebecca,
>
> Well, it's true that none of us can rule out any possible reason another
> individual might see fit to remove a white cane from a tight pouch on
> the back of a wheelchair while the wheelchair's owner is using her guide
> dog for an O&M tool at the time.
>
> However, your comments about canes and spares does assume a greater
> budget than some of us have. So those of us with lesser budgets hang on
> to broken canes just in case because if we lose the one we have that
> isn't broken somehow, we are just screwed and dead in the water, can't
> go nowhere safe, all that. Sigh.
>
> When my budget was under less pressure, I ended up with more canes and
> more kinds of canes than you can shake a stick at. /lol/ Then, on
> accounta the injuries and bills and all that resulted in my having less
> spare in my budget, I had to obtain different canes since I could not
> use the ones I already had without losing whatever use was left in or
> had returned to my hands and wrists and all at the time. This was a
> major crisis for me and I had to miss meals. Now I have one of those
> very light canes that I call my "park cane." I use it in risky places
> where it is more likely to come to harm so that I will then still have
> my "Sunday go ta meetin'" cane which does not look so battered and is
> better suited for formal occasions... Which reminds me, I need to order
> a new free white cane to have a backup to that one. Just in case!
> Because if that one gets broken or lost or stolen and for some reason I
> need to go somewhere without using my guide dog, that will be a major
> crisis for me.
>
> I'd had a bit of a crisis from losing track of my thin folding "purse
> cane" or "pocket cane" and just couldn't squeeze out the extra money to
> replace it... Then I found it again, so when I am out using my guide
> dog, I can have that on me, just in case I have to get somewhere in a
> hurry with it but don't want to end up crippled from using one of my
> heavy folding canes from when I had money to acquire a ton of them. So
> for me, having my pocket cane stolen, would be a really big deal.
>
> Theft is an outrage in any circumstance. But stealing someone's eyes???
> Doesn't matter if it's your cane, for which you sensibly have spares and
> through hard work can afford to replace; or if it is someone whose
> circumstances have them living on a shoestring and hoping they don't
> starve before they can get themselves into better straits. I still think
> it's pretty outrageous.
>
> Then again, since you know of the meals by my favorite chef I currently
> eat day in and day out, you know that you do not need to worry about my
> imminent starvation or deprivation on that score. /grin/ I still scrimp
> on the cane budget for other accessibility and adaptive stuff, though.
> And when that one cane of mine did walk off, it was a problem at the
> time. Sigh.
>
> Tami
>
> On 12/19/2011 11:53 AM, Pickrell, Rebecca M (TASC) wrote:
>>           Maybe the person needed it? I met a family that was new to this country, had a member that was blind and wanted to know where to get a cane. I'm not sure they knew what a cane was until they saw me using mine, thought "What a cool idea" and came over to talk to me.  If I'd had another one on me, I'd have probably given them the one I was using.
>>
>>    They were hoping/expecting you could just buy one at any store.
>>
>> And, why not buy a few backup canes that meet your needs? I treat canes like shoes, I have one I use but I also have a few backups that meet my needs, a broken cane serves me no purpose so I don't hang onto them, just as I wouldn't hang onto shoes I couldn't wear. Ditto for a cane that is too long, it'd be like hanging onto shoes that were too small.
>>
>> Since this seems to happen a fair bit to you, can you keep the cane say in something you hang onto like apurse? Or just keep the strap around your wrist so you are in contact with it when it isn't in use?
>>
>> What happened was wrong, I'm just not feeling the outrage the list seems to be feeling here.
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Brittney N. Mejico
>> Sent: Saturday, December 17, 2011 6:27 AM
>> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Some one stole my cane !
>>
>> That is really awful who would do such a thing.  Hope you get a new cain
>> soon
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Mardi Hadfield
>> Sent: Friday, December 16, 2011 12:59 AM
>> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
>> Subject: [nagdu] Some one stole my cane !
>>
>> Hi every one, Mardi here. I went Christmas shopping the other day and some
>> one stole my white cane.I keep it in a leather holster type of pouch
>> attached to my wheelchair when I am not using it. It is quite snug fitting
>> so it is impossible for it to have fallen out.When I left the store and
>> headed to the bus station,I reached for it so I could get into the
>> wheelchair bay when I got on the bus. It was not their! I had it when I got
>> off the bus so it disappeared somewhere between the bus station and the
>> store.The only time I use it when I have my dog with me is getting on or
>> off the bus.This is the second time someone has stolen a cane from me. This
>> is extremely annoying as I can not afford to buy another one until next
>> month.I have an old broken one and a very long NFB cane as a back up. Today
>> when I went out to pay a bill,I had to use the very Long NFB cane as I did
>> not take the dog with me in Carla's car.This cane would be fine if I were
>> walking but is way to long for use with a wheelchair.It also has a mettle
>> tip which gets caught in every crevice and pokes me in the face.I don't
>> know why someone would want to steal a blind person's cane??????? Fake
>> service dogs, now fake blind people? What is happening to this world.
>> Mardi and Shaman
>>
>> --
>> http://wolfsinger-lakota.blogspot.com/
>> http://wolfsinger2-thegoldendragon.blogspot.com
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