[nfbmi-talk] The Cane As A Symbol Or A Tool?

[Larry D. Keeler]

Well, I just ordered another telescopic cane. Broke the last one. I have it 
live in my backpack. I have recently become a dog user but still use my cane 
often. The folding ability of that cane is great for carrying!
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kane Brolin" <kbrolin65 at gmail.com>
To: "NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, June 17, 2013 10:03 AM
Subject: [nfbmi-talk] The Cane As A Symbol Or A Tool?


> On 6/17/13, Larry D. Keeler <lkeeler at comcast.net> wrote:
>>  ...  I was just thinking the other day about those who use the
>> cane as a symbol and not a tool. Some folks only use it when its 
>> convinent
>> and then put it away. They'll say the cane is too long or too 
>> inconvinenet
>> at the time. Those who use it as a tool like the cane longer so that it 
>> does
>> what its suppposed to do.
>
> I get that this might be the case with many people.  Having been a
> life-long blind person with no functional eyesight, I have been a cane
> user since childhood, and I do prefer the longer cane for the reason
> you have stated.  I do, however, tend to use a telescoping carbon
> fiber version of the long cane that is sold in Independence Market.  I
> switched to this variety of cane on the direct recommendation of Dr.
> Jernigan back in the 1990s.  One time when attending a chapter meeting
> in Chicago, one of the older guys in that meeting said I need to be
> careful, because in using a folding cane some people try to "fold up
> their blindness"-as in, hiding or de-emphasizing blindness in the way
> you have described.  I know this is not the case for me; but I do like
> the flexibility of being able to fold up and stash a cane so that it
> is more efficient and less prone to breakage in a car, on a train,
> etc.
>>
>>  ...  you are from South Bend and I'm from the Ann Arbor
>> > chapter! Go Blue!!
>
> I don't mind your poking fun, Larry.  But I won't be very good at
> throwing rejoinders here.  I live in South Bend, but am not from there
> and am not especially a Notre Dame fan.  I originally am from Iowa and
> have been a life-long fan of Big Twelve athletics [formerly the Big
> Eight].  So the outcome of the Notre Dame-Oklahoma game last fall was
> a hugely unpleasant surprise to me, as I'd always argued that Notre
> Dame is too afraid to play schools from a great conference such as the
> Big Twelve and SEC--great in football terms, that is.  In my family,
> we usually cheer for whatever team the Irish tend to be playing on any
> particular day.  Yet it is a much more pleasant region to live in here
> when ND is winning.
>
> Cordially,
>
> -Kane
>
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