[Ohio-talk] ABC program last evening

[Barbara Pierce]

I missed this. It should provide some interesting entertainment on a snowy
day. It is interesting to me that they felt they had to increase the drama
by insulting the blind customers. The sighted people came to the blind guy's
rescue when they saw them being cheated, so the conclusion is that marking
the currency should be done. All of us would like currency that we could
check ourselves, but I certainly don't think this filmed experiment proves
that tactile bills are essential.
Barbara

Subject: ABC SHOW Conducts Social Experiment by Having Store Clerk
Shortchange Blind Person

  Tonight on ABC's long running show "What Would You Do?" a segment has been
  devoted to how people react to a cashier in a bakery shortchanging people
  who are blind.
 
  This show engineers a variety of different situations with actors in order
  to reveal how or if general bystanders will react.
 
  ACB has consulted on this segment as we were contacted by a producer of
  the
  show shortly after the Federal Court of Appeals decision in May of last
  year. While we have not viewed the segment and therefore can't endorse it,
  it is our understanding that the court case and the need for accessible
  currency are mentioned during the peace. Below is a description of the
  segment that is available at abc.com. It is important to note that these
  individuals are blind actors and not sighted individuals pretending to be
  blind. .
 
  One of the other segments on this evening's show deals with individuals
  steeling while at an open house to see if people will speak up or look the
  other way.
 
  The show will run this evening at 10:00 Eastern on ABC.
 
  Eric
 
  Store Clerk Shortchanges Blind Person
 
  ABC News Customers Speak Up When Clerk Shortchanges Blind Person
 
  When a Person Who Can't See Is Handed Incorrect Change, What Do You Do?
 
  By AUSTIN MILLS and ANN SORKOWITZ
 
  Jan. 27, 2009-
 
  It's easy to tell the difference between a $1, $5, $10 or even $50 bill --
  that is, if you can see. But, if you're blind like more than 1 million
  Americans,
 
  a simple shopping trip becomes a game of blind trust.
 
  Because U.S. bills are not distinguishable by size, shape or texture,
 
  visually impaired people can't distinguish dollar amounts
 
  without assistance.
 
  They frequently have to rely on salesclerks or nearby strangers.
 
  But what if the clerk or stranger is dishonest? ABC News wanted to find
  out
  how people would respond if they noticed a cashier shortchanging a blind
  customer.
 
  Watch the story tonight on ABC's "
 
  What Would You Do?"
 
  With the cooperation of Gencarelli's, a bakery in Bloomfield, N.J., ABC
  News
  rigged the store with hidden cameras and hired two blind actors to pose as
 
  customers and another actor to portray the unscrupulous salesclerk.
 
  'What Am I, the Heritage for the Blind?'
 
  It began as Pamela, the blind actress, waited in line and other patrons
  started to overhear some demeaning dialogue from the salesclerk.
 
  "Would Helen Keller step up to the front, please?"
 
  Pamela brushed the comment aside and proceeded to order a cheesecake. She
  paid for the $16 cake with a $50 bill. After receiving her change, she
  asked
  for
 
  assistance in deciphering the bills and was met with even more harsh
  words.
 
  "What? I have to count this. What am I, the heritage for the blind or
  something?"
 
  If this wasn't bad enough, the clerk also cheated her. He handed her what
  he
  said were a $20 and a $10, but they were actually singles. Would anyone
  step
 
  up to help the blind woman?
 
  The first group of customers to walk into the bakery sat back and listened
  as the clerk's tirade went on for several minutes. Other customers clearly
  noticed
 
  the cheating but seemed hesitant to take on the clerk. But not Beth
  Carnicella, who stepped forward in defiance and told him, "I don't think
  it's nice
 
  what you're doing."
 
  The clerk protested, saying that Pamela had received correct change but
  Carnicella didn't buy it. Almost immediately, she changed tactics and
  looked
  for
 
  someone else to clear this up.
 
  "Where's your boss? Where's your boss?" she demanded.
 
  After a minute of arguing, she was about to give up and take her business
  elsewhere but couldn't bear to leave. That's when ABC News let Carnicella
  in
  on
 
  the experiment and asked why she'd stepped up. Her answer: "I guess that
  is
  how I was brought up."
 
  Group Rallies to Defend Pamela
 
  Later in the day, Jessica Gonzales stepped up to help the blind actor. 
  From
  the back of the line, she rushed to Pamela's aid, calling out, "They're
  all
 
  singles, these are all singles. What are you doing?"
 
  Other people, who had been passively watching the action unfold, began
  chiming in that she had in fact paid with a $50, not a $20, as the clerk
  was
  now
 
  claiming.
 
  Gonzales persisted. "You're acting like a total idiot in front of her,
  she's
  not a handicap," she said in a loud, firm voice. "Just give her change."
 
  Now an angry mob of people formed behind Pamela, standing with their arms
  crossed, glaring at the clerk. Just like Carnicella, they refused to leave
  without
 
  talking to the manager.
 
  Later, another group defended Pamela. After they succeeded in getting her
  money back, they continued to hold what appeared to be a group therapy
  session.
 
  Store patron Debra Lichter told the clerk, "I used to work with people
  about
  how to deal with people with disabilities, and I know you thought you were
 
  being cheerful but you were very condescending to this woman."
 
  Bystander Matthew Lichten added, "And I have to say, I am a
  psychotherapist
  and you are the one with the disability."
 
  When the Actor Is a Blind Man
 
  But ABC News wondered what would happen if the blind woman was swapped for
  a
  blind man named Adam? During half of Adam's shopping trips, no one
  intervened
 
  on his behalf.
 
  Most people didn't explain why, although customer Yvette McNeil said she
  didn't get involved because the "the guy behind the counter looked mean."
 
  When people did come forward for the blind man, it seemed that they were
  not
  only infuriated by the cheating but by their inability to stop it.
 
  Marcia Errar, having witnessed the scene unfold, angrily yelled at the
  clerk, "You don't need to work in here. Let me tell you that. You don't
  know
  how
 
  to treat customers."
 
  When the clerk denied having cheated the customer, Fran Rosamilia was so
  frustrated she asked, "Can you talk? You said that was a $20 and that was
  a
  $10,
 
  and in his hand those were two ones." In fact, she was so frustrated, she
  left without buying her cake.
 
  'You're Really Being Rude'
 
  Throughout the course of the experiment people never said a word until
  they
  actually saw the clerk shortchange the blind actors. They often
  disregarded
 
  the clerk's initial snide remarks. That is, except for one man named Nick
  Mitola.
 
  The clerk began in his usual manner, insulting the blind actress about her
  disability. Mitola spoke up immediately. "You're really being rude, just
  stop
 
  talking, you're getting deeper and deeper," he said firmly.
 
  The clerk asked the actor, "Are you deaf too? I told you three times."
 
  Mitola had finally had enough and could no longer contain his disgust. 
  "Wow.
  Shut up, Shut up! Enough's enough! Just shut up!" he yelled.
 
  Later, Mitola explained that he owns a steak house down the street and
  that
  "if one of my people ever ... I'd have pulled him out of the counter and
  killed
 
  him in front of the customers. I swear to God I would have."
 
  While Pamela and Adam take great pride in their independence, they
  appreciated the strangers who stood up for them on their behalf. But even
  more empowering,
 
  they said, would be to have a currency that would allow them to
  distinguish
  the different bills, so that they wouldn't have to rely on the honesty of
  strangers
 
  every time they shopped.
 
  Indeed, a federal appeals court recently ruled in favor of the American
  Council of the Blind, concluding that the Treasury Department was being
  discriminatory
 
  by failing to provide such a currency, paving the way for a future
  redesign.
 
  Copyright C 2009 ABC News Internet Ventures