[stylist] NEW THOUGHT PROVOKER #145- Looking Blind

Mon May 4 17:04:14 UTC 2009

Hi guys,
Well, I've been confused for other blind students on campus, but when
NFB supporters have been at school with me for meetings, I have often
spent the following days telling people that the blind individual
walking beside me was not my father It seems the common thought is
that blind people are interchangeable by looking blind, or that we are
all directly related.

I think people jump to conclusions way to soon... Two weeks ago I went
to Catalina Island with a blind student group I am apart of. The four
girls, including myself were allowed to explore the island
independently as long as we met up with the adults at a certain time.
We wanted to go to the gardens to take some pictures and walk around,
so we asked for directions from a woman running a booth. Three of us
were holding canes, and the youngest was not. She has the most vission
out of all of us, and hasn't been introduced to using a cane yet. She
is ten years old, and the rest of us  are in the age range of 15-17.
Yet, the woman chose to address the youngest because she tought she
could see, when reality after a few minutes of being amused I had to
step forward and ask her to address the rest of us as our youngest
member was becoming quite confused. The woman was shocked to find that
the ten year old she was talking to was also  visually impaired.

So, I think that people look for cues, guide dogs, and canes and the
like. People judge to quickly whether one is blind or not based on
appearance. Things that are associated with blindness are often
overannalized. However, I do agree with the TP that blind, and sighted
people alike who are approached with this kind of mentality have a
responsibility to react in an educating and appropriate way.
A.C.

On 5/3/09, James Canaday M.A.  N6YR <n6yr at sunflower.com> wrote:
> Robert,
> first I want to compliment the writing in this one, it particularly
> stands out.
> looking blind or looking helpless.  your scenario certainly
> highlights the distinction.
> blindness as a personal trait compared to race as a personal trait,
> that's woven in here too.
> two professors worked at kansas university when I was a
> student.  these two were completely blind.  One tall thin, a
> WASP.   the other short, broad, and argentinian.  the argentinian
> taught very advanced topics in mathematics.  the tall thin white guy
> was in the clinical and then the cognitive psychology teaching
> staffs.  their buildings were across campus from each
> other.  frequently, people were confusing the two.  it was common for
> one to be addressed by the other's name!
> blind men all look alike it seems to many sighted people!  I am
> sometimes confused for a blind guy here in town who has never worn a
> beard, same phenomenon.  for some sighted people, all they see is
> that we're blind.
> jc
>
> At 08:50 PM 5/3/2009, you wrote:
>>Writers
>>RE: Looking Blind
>>
>>Here is my newest THOUGHT PROVOKER. (You know, my TP forum, the stories and
>>their solicitation of responses by others- I would say it is a type of
>>BLOG.) If you have not read the PROVOKER, it follows.  Recall that I
>> collect
>>responses and post them upon my web site for all the WWW to read and learn
>>from and that URL is- Http://thoughtprovoker.info
>><http://thoughtprovoker.info/>   If you wish to receive THOUGHT PROVOKERS
>>sent directly to you, just write me and ask, at-  newmanrl at cox.net
>>
>>THOUGHT PROVOKER 145
>>Looking Blind
>>  "Do I look BLIND," the young man wearing dark glasses exploded.
>>
>>"sorry.ah, you.you all looked blind," the pedestrian said, releasing Bob's
>>arm. Without an invitation, she had grabbed Bob as she offered to assist
>> the
>>three friends to cross a busy downtown street. Apology said, she sped off.
>>
>>"Guys, what is this 'you look blind,' thing?" Bob addressed his two
>> friends,
>>Jose (partially blind, a dog guide user) and Jamal (totally blind, a long
>>white cane user). "And I'm sorry guys. I was.ah, shocked. That's never
>>happened to me before. I mean --- I know it is respectable to be blind. And
>>hey, where was this sweeping generalization coming from --- all blind
>> people
>>will need help to cross a simple not too busy street? But for real, when
>>this woman came up to us, put the vice-grip on my arm, thinking we all
>>'looked blind,' I was just.flabbergasted. Guess I flipped-out, felt I had
>> to
>>prove to her I wasn't blind. I lifted my shades, looked her in the eye,
>> even
>>dangled my car keys in front of her nose and.said what I said. I've just
>>never had that happen before and now I know what you guys mean about how
>>sometimes you are treated."
>>
>>"Bobby boy, my fully sighted friend," answered Jose, his teasing tone
>>stressing the Hispanic accent in his voice. "And ah." pointing first to
>>himself and his dog, then over to Jamal and his cane, "you with your dark
>>sunglasses and no travel tool, I'd say the lady saw three blind men and you
>>were the dude who really needed the help."
>>
>>"Huh," responded the now self-conscious Bob?
>>
>>"Yeah man, that was priceless!" Jamal chimed in. "Didn't your mama ever
>> warn
>>you that you become who you hang with?" Chuckling, his tone slipping deeper
>>into the accented tones of the African American vernacular of the
>>neighborhood of his birth. "With them shades, if we rub a little color onto
>>your lily white skin, next time, she'd be see'n you as a Brother."
>>
>>"Come on you guys, I'm serious," irritation was again showing in Bob's
>>voice. "You can't always tell by just looking!"
>>
>>For a couple of beats the two blind guys said nothing, just staring at
>> their
>>sighted friend. Then Jose spoke first. "Well.you are right and wrong. For
>>example, take Jamal and me. You strip us of our obvious blindness related
>>stuff," jiggling the handle of his dogs harness, "and look at us just
>>standing here, then no. Like even if they come up and look us in the eye,
>>then maybe. Hear what I'm saying? But sometimes, it pays off to be
>>recognized as blind. Before I started using a dog guide, back when I was
>>young and full of foolish pride, I wouldn't be caught dead with a cane. So
>>man, I'd play it cool and fake it. Guess we might as well call a stereo
>> type
>>a stereo type, I tried to look sighted. Then one day I finally had too
>> much.
>>I was out here trying to cross a busy street with my little amount of
>>screwed up sight, couldn't do it and couldn't get anyone to help me. I mean
>>get real, a good Samaritan like that woman would have looked at me and seen
>>this young Hispanic dude with the spiked up do, and she'd be think'n of
>>newscasts about Mex gang-bangers."
>>
>>
>>"Yeah," Jamal added, "Some times it pays to be looking blind. Remember that
>>Mac Donald's commercial I was in? They wanted a blind guy with a cane. I
>>wasn't about to allow them to dress up a sighted guy."
>>
>>  "Ya, Ya, YA," jumped back in Jose. "Like let's get real, dude! It's okay
>> or
>>should be to look like what you are. It's not your look that is the
>> problem,
>>it is how the guy doing the looking is thinking that is the problem." An
>>expression which could only be labeled as "inner-examination" came over his
>>face, then he finished with an earlier impulse, "And get'in personal and
>>real. The problem with this cause and reaction thing, also lies within the
>>blind guy, too. So ah, Bobby Boy, we got to work with you on your response
>>to the judgmental public."
>>
>>
>>
>>Robert Leslie Newman
>>Email- newmanrl at cox.net
>>THOUGHT PROVOKER Website-
>>Http://www.thoughtprovoker.info
>>
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