[stylist] Story, "Help is On the Way"

[Vejas]

Hi Debbie,
No, I have not had any personal experience with a center such as this one. I am a Louisiana Center for the Blind graduate, and thought that this would definitely be a problem, me overexaggerating some things. I based it off things I'd heard. People at seminar when I was at LCB were talking about how in a lot of places, totally blind students are treated with less respect, hence the idea of a "mentor" needing to hold their hand.
I did, however, tour several centers in California for my justification letter for rehab. The expectations seemed rather low. 
Vejas 

> On Sep 14, 2016, at 06:47, debby via stylist <stylist at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> I have a couple -ts. I'm not an editor so I won't talk about sentence structure and all that. Have you reY been to a Center like the one you write about? I've been to a non-federation center and it wasn't like that at all. It just felt a below exaggerated to me. But I really do like the character of Maddie.    Debby
> 
>> On Sep 13, 2016 12:38 PM, Vejas Vasiliauskas via stylist <stylist at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Hi All, 
>> I really would like to get back to writing, so I have written the 
>> following piece, which I have attached as a Word document and 
>> will hopefully go into the email. 
>> This is a very rough draft.  Any constructive criticism would be 
>> appreciated "as well as positive ones, obviously).  I feel that 
>> the potential main issue with this story is that I have made too 
>> much effort to prove a specific point about the center that is 
>> the main focus of this piece. 
>> Enjoy! 
>> Vejas 
>> Help Is On the Way 
>> 
>> by Vejas Vasiliauskas 
>> Prologue 
>> My name is Fiona Itube.  I'm 18 years old, and I live in 
>> Montpelier, Vermont.  I have been blind all my life, but beyond 
>> getting good grades in school, expectations weren't that 
>> important to my parents.  People all throughout my school career 
>> were always willing to let me hold their hands; my cane was 
>> always in my other hand, though I admit that I never learned to 
>> use it. 
>> I was indifferent to receiving blindness training, and so were my 
>> parents.  It was really my teacher for the visually impaired, 
>> Ellie, who insisted I go.  I thought she was a nutty radical, but 
>> I applied for the Department of Rehab so that I could get into 
>> the Better Blind training center. 
>> But I never knew what blindness training was, until I met Maddie 
>> Maddox. 
>> Chapter 1 
>> My start date was September 27.  My parents helped me set up.  I 
>> take that back, they set up for me, while I Whats-apped my best 
>> friend, Fern Allow.  Fern and I were supposed to have spent the 
>> summer together and all that, but then her parents decided that 
>> it would be really fun in Italy, so that's where they decided to 
>> go. 
>> After my parents finished unpacking me, they hugged me. 
>> "Welove you so much," Dad said.  "Let us know if you need 
>> anything." 
>> "See if there's anyone you want to meet outside," Mom suggested.  
>> "You should bring your cane, it will probably make you look 
>> better." 
>> I grabbed my cane and, sure enough, I didn't have to go far.  A 
>> girl walked up to me. 
>> "Hi, I'm Francesca, call me Frankie," she said, but her tone of 
>> voice sounded cold.  Finally she asked, "Is that a stick?" 
>> "Yes, it is," I explained, "but we call it a cane." 
>> "Oh." She huffed.  "These.  So, you mean, you're totally blind." 
>> "So?" 
>> "Well," she said hesitantly, "I will explain this because you are 
>> new, but typically we don't regard you kind of people very well." 
>> "Will I get bullied?" 
>> "Not really bullied per se, but we're supposed to have one and 
>> it's quite a job.  I'm yours.  Whenever we have to go anywhere, I 
>> need to hold your hand to take you there. 
>> "And also, we do have to use these things, but we call them 
>> sticks.  Canes, we consider way too radical." 
>> Chapter 2 
>> I got really used to the way of life at the center.  I learned 
>> and understood that, as a totally blind person, I would never be 
>> altogether too successful.  We were told our center's welcome 
>> sign over and over again. 
>> Help Is on the Way For Blind People 
>> What to Do to Get a Sighted Person's Attention 
>> 1.  Look lost, even if you know where you're going. 
>> 2.  Smile, always smile.  Maybe you will charm a sighted person 
>> into giving you a job. 
>> 3.  Accept the fact that this will always be your life. 
>> We were also told that in a few years, surgery would allow us to 
>> gain sight and lead a better life. 
>> Chapter 2 
>> "Honey, I'm so, so sorry," Lesley Clockhammer, the director of 
>> the blindness center, told me as she looked at my apartment.  She 
>> looked around.  "Did Maggie clean your apartment?" 
>> "Yes, she did," I said, "but I spilled grape juice all over and 
>> didn't know what to do." 
>> "Oh, that's OK," Lesley laughed.  "I'll call her right now to get 
>> back and clean it up.  If I don't, we could have some problems." 
>> She sighed.  "Anyway, I'm so sorry but you are going to be 
>> getting a new roommate in a couple of hours.  Her name is Maddie 
>> Maddox and she is from St.  Albans, Vermont.  I know people like 
>> to have their privacy.  I'm so, so sorry." 
>> Maddie impressed me from the start.  For starters, she didn't 
>> come with her parents.  Lesley and Maggie, the cleaner, fussed 
>> all over her. 
>> "Nope, I can do it myself," Maddie said over, and over, and over 
>> again. 
>> When they finally left, Maddie came over to my room. 
>> "How's life here, Fiona?" she asked me. 
>> "It's fine, I guess.  For a blindness training center." 
>> "I really wanted to go to Ruston, Louisiana for the Louisiana 
>> Center for the Blind," Maddie explained.  "But my Department of 
>> Rehabilitation absolutely insistedon no.  My dad is friends with 
>> Lesley Clockhammer's husband, and they said I could come here for 
>> free! I hope that I at least can have some great experiences." 
>> It didn't look like it.  Later, as the day progressed, I saw that 
>> there was very little that could satisfy Maddie Maddox. 
>> "No," she insisted to her mentor, Davina.  "I don't need any 
>> help, thank you very much! I can walk to the dining hall all by 
>> myself." 
>> "With this stick thing?" 
>> "Yes, it's called a cane," Maddie said, "and it's here to help 
>> me.  Do you have any sight?" 
>> "Some," Davina said meekly. 
>> "I find it helps me and it should help you too," explained 
>> Maddie.  "That certainly beats stumbling around." 
>> Davina retreated. 
>> "I got what I wanted!" Maddie was happy.  "Fiona, you need to 
>> tell your mentor person similarly." 
>> "I'm too scared to." 
>> "Oh, come on, girl, you need to learn to speak up for yourself." 
>> "Frankie," I said when she came by for dinner, "I would like to 
>> use my cane from now on.  Thank you for being my mentor." 
>> "Suit yourself," she said and walked off. 
>> "See? It was easy!" Maddie cheered.  "Let's go for dinner!" 
>> Chapter 3 
>> Julia Spinner, the kitchen instructor, came into our apartment at 
>> 10 for kitchen class.  I was still sleeping. 
>> "You missed breakfast," she said.  "No worries, though.  Do you 
>> want some privacy to change, or would you like me to dress you?" 
>> From the kitchen, Maddie snickered. 
>> "I'll dress myself, thanks," I said. 
>> "Cool.  I have a spinach cheddar bake for you to make." 
>> "Spinach and cheddar is awesome!" Maddie said.  She was writing 
>> out an ingredients list for the center's grocery store on a 
>> large, old-fashioned typewriter-like machine.  "I love helping my 
>> mom make spinach quiche!" 
>> Julia laughed.  "Oh, that's the funniest thing I've heard all 
>> day! No, you're supposed to put it in the oven for 45 minutes." 
>> "Got it," I said. 
>> "Just curious," Maddie said, "but what are you having Fiona do 
>> for the next 45 minutes?" 
>> "The waiting game," Julia explained patiently.  "As a blind 
>> person, you need to learn to spend more time waiting and less on 
>> your mobile devices." 
>> Chapter 4 
>> "I'm disgusted with this center!" Maddie ranted and raved that 
>> night.  "If I didn't have any self-motivation, I don't think I'd 
>> be anywhere! I was hoping that I could help others in a positive 
>> way, and, Fiona, you have come such a long way.  But I guess 
>> not." 
>> Maddie had been lectured by Lesley Clockhammer that she was 
>> "overdoing it", and "expressing a form of free thinking which 
>> served as a threat to the center." But then Maddie calked down. 
>> "I'm going to get permission to go to the National Federation of 
>> the Blind convention in Orlando this year," she twittered 
>> excitedly.  "I have always gone to them, and they are amazing! I 
>> learn so much?" 
>> "How are you going to do that?" I asked.  You needed a day pass 
>> to go anywhere. 
>> "Both of my grandparents are conviently going to die that day," 
>> Maddie explained, "so I have no option but to go to their 
>> funeral.  That's actually what my grandparent suggested.  There's 
>> no other way I can think of that the center would let me go." 
>> "Don't you feel strange ly-?was 
>> "You gotta do what you gotta do." Maddie sighed.  "But I can't 
>> believe that this is a 9-month program, and the convention is not 
>> for another 7." 
>> "Tell me more about this NFB." 
>> So that's what we talked about all night.  This organization 
>> wasn't full of crazy radicals; they actually wanted more 
>> expectations of blind students so that they could live a happy 
>> and fulfilled lifestyle. 
>> Chapter 5 
>> A month later, and I was even closer to Maddie.  On the outside, 
>> we did what was required: hold our mentors' hands and, in my 
>> case, that of my new mentor Caroline-thank God Frankie graduated.  
>> But on the outside, we did what we could.  We split the money to 
>> buy pots, pans and other everyday uses for the kitchen, so that 
>> we could cook for ourselves.  We cleaned and cleaned and cleaned, 
>> so much so that Maggie had nothing to do.  One day she told us 
>> that she hated this job, that she knew students could do much 
>> better, but coming to our apartment made her day. 
>> It was an ordinary Saturday night when I was woken up by my phone 
>> vibrating to signalize a text from Maddie. 
>> "Hi Fiona it's me.  I have decided to leave.  I just can't take 
>> it anymore.  I am going to fight for the Louisiana Center for the 
>> Blind and while I wait, I will do what I can.  Good luck.  Talk 
>> to me anytime." 
>> And at that point I knew what to do.  I pulled out my suitcases 
>> and began to pack them. 
>> The End
>> 
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