[Nfbf-l] Deaf, blind priest grounded by airline

Tue Aug 20 21:02:28 UTC 2013

The level of education does not always matter, although sometimes really 
uneducated people start talking about the devil and that blindness is a 
function of Satan.  In very educated people, the stereotype might be 
something like what you described, someone yelling at you as if you were 
hard of hearing and not hearing anything whatsoever that you might have to 
say, or it might be such incredible fear, that that person starts having 
unreasonable panic attacks and drives their support system crazy over the 
possibility that the dreaded B phenomenon might happen to them in about 15 
years or so.  They may ask tons of questions of a blind person, but nothing 
you say appears to penetrate.  And everything they observe about you, 
whether it's how you clean your house, your weight, if you are overweight, 
everything, is attributable to your blindness.  That's all they see.  Like 
you said, we meet all kinds, don't we?

Mark Tardif
Nuclear arms will not hold you.
-----Original Message----- 
From: lball42 at tampabay.rr.com
Sent: Tuesday, August 20, 2013 3:25 PM
To: NFB of Florida Internet Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Nfbf-l] Deaf, blind priest grounded by airline

This is a great one. Let me tell you of another. My wife Mary and I were 
going to our sons first IEP at his new school. We were to meet the principal 
of that school and set up a plan for our son. When we came in to principals 
office we introduced our selves, and the principal approached us. He walked 
right up to Mary, put his face about three inches away from Marys face and 
started yelling at the top of his voice"and how are you Mrs Ball" She. S 
backed up against the wall and he followed her. I was flabbergasted. I 
started laughing. I just could not help it was so stupid. By the way Mary 
has good HEARING SHE KEPT SLIDING DOWN THE HALL TO GET AWAY FROM HIM AND HE 
KEPT FOLLOWING hearing. tHIS WAS AN EDUCATED MAN.
---- BROOKE6358 at aol.com wrote:
> We meet all kinds, of which I am one!  People in the public  square need
> education about 'me', my cane, my haaring aids.  All this is  the very 
> reason
> that keeps me networking, advocating and at times,
> explaining/preacing'teaching to meet the mis-understandinds, which is 
> really a  fear.
>
> I was on front page of local newspaper, full color photo dancing for a 
> fund
>  raising event. The article, along with photo, was quite extensive. Being 
> a
>  'little bit proud' of myself, I carried this section of the paper with me
> for a  while.
> We were meeting friends at a Dunkin Donut, gal sitting next to us began to
> talk. You know how it is at a DD, "a stranger is a friend I haven't met
> yet", as  Will Rogers once said.
>
>
> I began to talk about my cane, after she mentioned it. I explained my
> reason for having to use the cane---oh she knew someone...and the usual
> conversation ensued about her friend who lost sight but this woman next to 
> us  had
> not yet even 'seen' me, only my white cane and had not 'heard' a word i'd
> said.
>
> I took my newspaper out and once again began to 'educate'. She read the
> article and was just completely astounded and over and over and over 
> uttered
> these same words..."but this woman is blind--how can she dance? this woman
> is  blind--it says so right here in the paper, how can she dance? this 
> woman
> is  blind! '  Every time she said this, either I or my husband said. 'she 
> is
>  sitting right next to you'. The woman heard nothing!  Only herself, her
> abject fear paralyzed her brain...she could not 'see' anything but her own
> preconceived notion about 'blind' people.
>
> After about 5 minutes of this back and forth--'this woman is blind! how 
> can
>  a blind person dance?'  And me, 'that blind woman is sitting right next 
> to
>  you'.  Ad infinitum, it seemed before she finally had a paradygm shift 
> and
>  looked at me with different eyes and asked..'how can you dance, you are
> blind!'
>
> Again, we meet all kinds! And, some are very interesting! smiles
>
> bre
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