[nfbwatlk] An Apology

[Mike Freeman]

Arielle:

Question: How can we understand both sides of a situation when one side is
essentially irrational, i.e., not susceptible of analysis?

Mike Freeman


-----Original Message-----
From: nfbwatlk [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Arielle
Silverman via nfbwatlk
Sent: Wednesday, March 25, 2015 8:57 PM
To: nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nfbwatlk] An Apology

Hi Sushil,
I want to apologize to you on list for my comments I made about your
incident with Alaska Airlines. Reading over them again, I think I came
across as being a lot more harsh than I intended, especially since I don't
think we've met. I'm sorry for any hurt my comments may have caused.
Even though we haven't met, I always believed you were telling the truth
about what happened and I never thought you were leaving out any facts. My
reaction was more coming from my surprise and confusion about why the
incident happened. When I said I thought we don't know all the information,
I was referring to more subtle things that might have gone down in your
conversation with the airline staff, like your body language and Byron's,
that could have caused it to escalate. In general, I like to try to figure
out both sides of a situation if I can. I think we as an organization can
target discrimination more effectively when we can figure out the other
party's reasons for discriminating. Even when those reasons aren't valid,
it's helpful for us to know the discriminator's motives so we can plan a
strategic defense. Sometimes, knowing their motives can lead to a compromise
solution.
I experienced airline discrimination a few months ago (though not as serious
as your case) so I empathize with your situation and I do support you in any
action you may choose to take. In my case, the flight attendant who reseated
me eventually apologized and admitted that he made a mistake and
misinterpreted the regs aboutwhere blind people can sit. I hope you are able
to reach a satisfactory settlement with the airline. Again, I am sorry that
my empathy and support probably didn't come through in my first response to
this thread.
Best, Arielle

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