[Nfbk] NFB Philosophy

[Cathy]

Good Afternoon All,

I had the opportunity to listen to a message that was left on the NFB of
Greater Louisville Talking Bulletin board. The lady who left the message is
disabled, but not a member of our organization. She ranted on about what she
thought was wrong with the NFB and what we needed to do to correct our
mistakes. It was clear to me after listening to her message and having a
telephone conversation with her, she really doesn't have a clue about what
NFB stands for. Nevertheless, one proposal she presented really got my
attention. She believes that blind people should wear medic alert bracelets.
When I questioned her as to why she thought this would be beneficial, she
commented, and I paraphrase, well we might get up off the stretcher or ER
bed and run into a wall, or we wouldn't know what was available to us.
Obviously if someone has a medical condition that is life-threatening, or
may present itself in such a way that medical personnel may misinterpret the
symptoms, one should wear a medic alert bracelet. Blindness is NOT one of
those conditions. The blind people I know aren't going to leap out of a bed
and run into a wall. This is exactly the kind of negative attitudes that we
must continue of fight. I want to hear your comments.

Cathy