[Nfbc-info] Letter To The Bee: Joseph Webb

Fri Sep 4 11:33:11 UTC 2009

    Hi Eric. Even when a kind person offers you a ride sometimes it may not 
be an act of kindness.  I used to hitch hike everywhere and didn't have any 
problems but others I know did.Well that's not exactly true, I did get 
scared a couple times like when a man on drugs I think picked me up one 
night and told me he was the devil.  I made sure I kept talking to him and 
got him to drop me a few blocks from my house and I ran. He might have 
followed me or maybe just had a good laugh or just went on his way to where 
ever, I don't know but it got the old adrenalin pumping that's for sure 
This isn't a blindness thing it's a society thing.
..
This was maybe 25 years ago not to worry! just as at risk were the good 
samaritans.  How many times did a nice looking babe stand on the side of the 
road with her thumb up looking upset and forlorn beside a broken down car or 
just there and a person stops to pick her up when out of the shadows comes a 
man with a crow bar. the samaritan gets robbed, car stolen or worse.
In rosamond I had a few people offer me rides and sometimes I said yes other 
times no. Depending on my judgment.
As for sacramento transit my understanding is the reason in part that money 
is tight is mismanagement over spending on the light rail.
Sacramento is a smaller town but even rules regarding paratransit are 
tighter than Los angeles.
For example the cut off time for next day service is 5:00 p.m
And, they don't have emergency same day service.
If you do a river cats game and you need a taxicab here's a really great cab 
driver Terra and I met.
She's a gem and why she's driving at night I can't figure--guess she didn't 
read your tips or just disregarded them not being a blind woman.
but though she's at risk guess she needs to support her family.
Let's help by taking her cab.
Her name is Beverley.
(916) 317-4526
Tell her the blind couple, Mike and terra referred you if you want.
She is really great even called us on our cell and directed us to her cab.
Mike Couey refferred us to her company it's called co-op cab. They are good 
and they are fair with fares.
Mike

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Eric Calhoun" <eric at pmpmail.com>
To: <nfbc-info at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, September 04, 2009 2:39 AM
Subject: Re: [Nfbc-info] Letter To The Bee: Joseph Webb

> Hi Angela, your comments are well, I repeat, well, justified.  In my
> research, I've learned that it's not a good idea to be on the Sacramento
> streets after 7 P.M., for safety reasons, the most obvious is: (1)
> Sacramento Regional Transit's buses stopping well before midnight, and (2)
> having a contact person help you when you get stuck.  In hinsight, we are
> all aware of the dangers of organized crime.  But to say these tips are
> unavoidable is not true.  To cite an example: Three years ago, I was on my
> way back from a River Cats' baseball game.  Sac-Transit Access wanted to
> pick me up after eleven o'clock.  But the game was over at 9:45.  I got
> back onto the Yolo County bus, headed for the Capitol Mall Light Rail.  My
> stop was Arden-Del Paso.  After 9 o'clock, there are no buses going toward
> the Hilton Arden Sacramento West, so I had no choice, but to have someone
> call a cab for me.  Why?  Because I was on the bus stop with a lot of
> winows!  And, I wanted my hotel room.  What if the game ended at about 9
> o'clock?  Well, I would still call a cab.  I could not the fact that I am
> blind stop me from getting away from thuggery.  Better to be safe than
> sorry.
>
> I have another question: All of us can afford Sac-Transit's fares.  Then,
> why, in the name of the National Federation of the Blind of California,
> don't the people ask for 24-hour-a-day transportation?  Because, there is
> no money for it.
>
> Lastly, these "thugs" don't care that we're blind.  I know Tina
> personally, by the way.  We are not helpless souls!  But don't tell that 
> to
> the thugs.  I want justice served, too, but protective, and corrective,
> measures come into play here.
>
> In closing, we need to remember that when we see a chance for someone to
> take us home, and they're sincere, we should take it.  I run into this
> problem in L.A. everyday: people telling us "street smarts."  Do we want 
> to
> be shown "street smarts," or do we want to be shown complete control.  I
> resent, as much as you do, someone telling me, and giving me, "street
> smarts."  But when something that can be prevented happens, what must we
> do?  Fight back.  What must we do, if someone "worries" about us, and 
> gives
> us the "lecture on street smarts?"  Let them know we can do it.
>
> Thank you for reading this letter.  It's always refreshing to know that I
> can disagree politely with my good friends.
>
> Eric
> --
>
> --
>
> Take a stand!  Be a winner!  Be a team player!
>
> Because: Friends don't let friends be sore losers!
>
> Eric from Los Angeles!
>
>
>
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__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 4394 (20090904) __________

The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.

http://www.eset.com