[nfb-talk] So very proud

Tue Sep 27 16:07:40 UTC 2016

Well, I felt I had to cut some corners because my message was so long. 
If I had chosen to expand on the point about being a waitor, I'd have 
said almost exactly what you said. It's a real job and for some people, 
it's all they've got. But that only reinforces my point. I got the 
impression from the people at my table that they were surprised I was a 
volunteer just like any other volunteer at any other fund raiser. You 
wouldn't assume that the guy clearing tables at the church picknic was a 
bus boy in real life, would you?

Maybe I was just such a good waitor they couldn't believe it was my 
first time. At least now I have something to fall back on if this whole 
research computing thing falls through.

On 09/26/2016 04:10 PM, kaye zimpher via nfb-talk wrote:
> Well first, I want to say that being a waiter/waitress is a "real 
> job." For some, it is all they have, and it feeds, clothes and 
> shelters their family for as long as needed. To me, that's real enough.
> As for the topic, DDining in the Dark would be a fun event. But as 
> previously stated, it is often hard to convince some that we don't 
> have it so bad.
> One of the reasons I believe this is because there are many blind 
> people who do feel it is terrible to be blind. Some who have lost 
> their sight later, and even a few that are what I like to call 
> "lifers," feel they are in a tragic state and they grieve for what 
> seems like a life time. Society plays upon this view because it 
> matches the view held by most of society.
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Heim via nfb-talk" 
> <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: "John Heim" <john at johnheim.net>
> Sent: Monday, September 26, 2016 4:42 PM
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] So very proud
>
>
>> 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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>>>>
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>>
>> -- 
>> John Heim
>> john at johnheim.com
>>
>>
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>
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-- 
John Heim
john at johnheim.com