[Nfbf-l] Yes, We still have a lot to do in the way of educating the Public

[Alan Dicey]

Dear Friends,
I thought this message worth sharing with you, as I know this happens to all 
of us!
Hey, remind me to tell you the time I was standing in front of an Ace 
Hardware store I had to go to,  to get a plumbing fixture,  replacing our 
kitchen faucet.
I was waiting for my paratransit ride, and a lady came up to me and put a 
$10 bill in my hand!
Whoa!!
As soon as I realized what happened I called to her, "Mam I really do not 
need this, but she was gone!
Did I look pathetic or something?
I always dress very nice, clean shaven, nice hair cut, some say I am a good 
looking clean cut looking, well Middle age gentleman, so I just don't get 
it! Could it have been the White Cane I was holding?
The message I wish to share with you:

Message from the Executive Director of the NFB
Dear Friends,
One of the tremendous benefits of working on behalf of a national 
organization is the opportunity for a diverse array of experiences while 
traveling around country to learn what blind people are doing in local 
communities. In the past month I had the opportunity to be in Louisiana and 
Missouri, spending time with members of the National Federation of the 
Blind. It is always interesting to witness how different the reaction can be 
to a blind man traveling independently and going through life like anyone 
else.
On Sunday night I returned to Baltimore from my latest trip. I was happy to 
be back, so I hustled from the plane through the A terminal at Baltimore 
Washington International Airport to the curb where I was to meet the ride I 
had arranged. I had been standing on the curb in my suit, simply waiting for 
my ride for about five minutes, when a woman suddenly ran up to me. It was 
9:30 p.m. on a Sunday night and she was the loudest thing around as the 
airport was fairly quiet. She informed me that I was standing on the curb 
and that I should step away so I would not fall off. I told her that I 
thought the curb seemed unlikely to give way, that I was certainly aware of 
where I was standing, and that I was simply waiting for my ride. She 
continued to insist that I step away from the curb because I was likely to 
fall off.

Contrast this with yesterday afternoon when my wife Melissa-who is also 
blind-and I went to enjoy opening day of baseball season at Oriole Park at 
Camden Yards. We traveled with our long white canes among the more than 
forty-six thousand fans, found concessions and our seats, and enjoyed the 
game with the crowd. Not once did someone worry we would suddenly fall out 
of the stands. Instead, the fact that we happened to be blind almost never 
came up, and when we asked questions to get directions we were always met 
with clear answers. It got me thinking about what the difference might be in 
these situations. Was it that there were two of us-does one blind person 
look helpless and lonely, and two look confident and supported? Was it that 
among forty-six thousand people there was no one that had low expectations 
for blind people? Or is this simply an expression that in some ways we have 
made significant progress, but that there are still members of the public 
who do not yet know that blind people have developed the tools and 
techniques to live the lives we want and pursue our dreams with ambition.
In my travels, I meet blind people who are just coming to learn that they 
are not likely to simply tumble off a curb by standing on it, and that they 
can travel in a crowd of thousands confidently and independently. In the NFB 
we teach each other that blindness is not the tragedy that some might think 
and that we can learn to participate fully in all aspects of our society. 
The fact that members of the general public still run up to us and express 
low expectations for us is evidence that we have more work to do, and why 
our organization provides something different to blind people. Whether you 
are at the airport or attending a baseball game, I hope you take an 
opportunity to teach people about the work of the National Federation of the 
Blind and invite them to support our work.
Thank you for all you do,

Mark A. Riccobono, Executive Director
NFB Jernigan Institute