[stylist] NEW THOUGHT PROVOKER #145- Looking Blind

Tue May 5 20:28:53 UTC 2009

Tami,
I've had people say about my first guide dog Bruce that he didn't look
like a guide dog as he was an australian cattle dog. I even had
someone insist he was a Mutt. Just because she didn't know what an
australian shepard dog was.

Helene

On 05/05/2009, Judith Bron <jbron at optonline.net> wrote:
> I just tell them the truth.  Then it's up to them to figure out.  Judith
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Tamara Smith-Kinney" <tamara.8024 at comcast.net>
> To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2009 2:41 PM
> Subject: Re: [stylist] NEW THOUGHT PROVOKER #145- Looking Blind
>
>
>> Judith,
>>
>> As I like to say when I confuse one person with another (especially
>> amusing
>> when I confuse a total stranger for someone I know well), "Y'all look
>> alike
>> to me."  /smile/
>>
>> Tami Smith-Kinney
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of Judith Bron
>> Sent: Monday, May 04, 2009 10:29 AM
>> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [stylist] NEW THOUGHT PROVOKER #145- Looking Blind
>>
>> Aziza, There are those who constantly confuse one black for another, one
>> blond for another and one guy for another.  Being blind, I confuse
>> everyone.
>>
>> We can't spend our lives trying to educate those who refuse to be
>> educated.
>> In their ignorance, there are no differences between one person in a group
>> and the other.  Judith
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Aziza C" <daydreamingncolor at gmail.com>
>> To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Monday, May 04, 2009 1:04 PM
>> Subject: Re: [stylist] NEW THOUGHT PROVOKER #145- Looking Blind
>>
>>
>>> 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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>>>>>http://www.nfb-writers-division.org
>>>>><http://www.nfb-writers-division.org/>
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>>>>
>>>>
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