[nfb-talk] So very proud

[John Heim]

I'm not surprised that the NFB has come out against this.

It's kind of an odd choice by the FFB. I was once a waiter at an FFB 
Dining In the Dark event. That was a blast, by the way. I had a great 
time. I was going around making fun of the people at my table for not 
even being able to stuff food in their mouths.  They took it really well 
and pretty soon they were all actually trying instead of being 
deliberately helpless. I went up to the guy who was most into it and 
pretended to pour him a glass of champaign, making a popping sound 
effect with my mouth. He played right along and the woman on the other 
side of him actually asked for a glass too.   It was hilarious and the 
whole night was just a blast.


Even so, I'm not sure I'd do it again. A couple of things bothered me. 
First, in the after party, a lot of people seemed to think I really was 
a waitor.  I'm like, "No, I manage the research computers for the math 
department at the University of Wisconsin. I'm just doing this to raise 
money for the FFB."  Admittedly, it's a little egotistical for that to 
bother me. I was a little insulted to think that people didn't assume I 
had a real job. The second thing was that a hefty percentage of the 
people, even those at my table, remained unconvinced. I pointed out that 
with a little effort, they had figured out how to feed themselves and I 
had had no problems serving as their waitor. You get used to it, right? 
But they weren't really buying it. Maybe a little. I'm not sure I did 
any good. Hard to say.


Actually, this is a thing that has puzzled me for years. I have friends 
who still think being blind is absolutely horrible -- except for for me. 
When I point out that I am doing fine, better than they are in some 
cases, they don't think that is proof that being blind isn't so bad. 
They think I'm some kind of special case or something.



On 09/26/2016 11:53 AM, Devin Prater via nfb-talk wrote:
> Oh yes, I was nicely surprised when the NFB stood against that.
>
> Devin Pratersent from Gmail.
>
> On Mon, Sep 26, 2016 at 11:49 AM, beth.wright--- via nfb-talk <
> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
>> Hi, fellow listers.
>>
>> Just wanted to say how very proud I am of the NFB for taking a courageous
>> stand against this misguided blindfold challenge campaign by the Foundation
>> Fighting Blindness. I've been a Federationist for over forty years, been on
>> the PAC plan for a long time, and thus made a donation online. I encourage
>> others to do the same. Now is the time to stand up and be counted.
>>
>> Beth Wright
>>
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-- 
John Heim
john at johnheim.com