[Travelandtourism] Intro Sami

[Peter Wolf]

Hi Sami-

I'm 59 and vision impaired, not totally blind.  I walk with a white cane, or team with my dog.  First, I want to say I am very impressed with what you have done and your goals.  It's awesome to have an early start with motivation and the travel exposure to go with it.  This has nothing to do with vision; it's about what you've done and accomplished in expanding your horizons already at your age.  Bravo!

I felt compelled to write also about the assistance issue.  It brings up an issue of the heart.  So in advance of these couple of paragraphs, I want to say that this makes me re-visit some conversations I've been in or heard that has to do with us who have variations of vision (or blind) and others who don't .  It's kind of a personal conversation and I hope that perhaps there's value in it for you that in some situations - when the feeling is there, and a sense of "I have time for this", can instead of being a mild irritation, bring a moment of remarkable interaction.

My sense of people's offers to assist even when it's obvious we're fine is that they are uncomfortable and unsure of themselves in the moment.  The quickest response sometimes for folks is a quite unconscious one, to "reach out and help".  That's beside anything their company may have put into their heads about "disability customer service".   I have a Psychology background and am also only six years new to vision loss, so it's like the drama in getting a "snapshot in time" to experience people's "helping" behavior.  I personally find this issue periodically in my day.  I can't tell where things are that my eyes pick up in space when walking, and so I do or don't see them, and I crash into them or they seemingly into me.  So walking, I could just as well be blind.  In fact, I often elect it! My saving grace walking when it just gets too hairy to just shut my eyes or sleepshade.  Hence the dog or the cane.  When I'm out with my cane especially around intersections (I'll bet a bunch of you know this one), well intending people come over and offer to help, simultaneously grabbing my arm and starting to steer me around.  Beside being pushed off balance, it's irritating.  The amount of polite (or otherwise) directness it takes to get them to knock it off is sometimes amazing.  I think it's because they are uncomfortable - and asking them to stop would certainly make them even more-so!  I too have been offered a wheelchair, even with my dog!  I guess it it just something for us, in our lap, an opportunity to exercise compassion even as we tell folks that we're doing just fine, thanks.  

Hey there's nothing wrong with educating people, I do it all the time.  There's the option of course of "no thanks" and keep walking.  But sometimes, there can present, an opportunity for a random act of healing fear for someone when their assumptions get exposed.  If the moment feels right, I've been known to stop, engage someone's help offer and get directly into conversation, and -in a good way- thank you so much for offering the kindness (and I mean it -- please don't do this if you don't).  Of course they may ask something about vision, they can't help it.  It's often followed by some kind of "I'm so sorry you deal with that".  Hey look, they're quietly freaked, actually getting their own sudden glimpse in imagination of what if their own comfortable world was changed.  That's when I tell them how I hear better, and how excited I am about my next work venture...   You have to feel this or don't ever do it -  or it could reverse and end up mean both ways instead.  What it does, when it's genuine, is it gives something to a person who formerly saw "disability" - - it gives them a doorway to awe and motivation by touching them in a human way by the motivation, ingenuity and creativity that we as individuals and as a population exemplify.  

In summary, if someone is just either being a jerk or just doing their job, whatever, I say no thanks and walk on.  But if I sense something human, it can be amazing what comes of being a good ambassador for helping eliminate just one more assumption in the world, and steering it toward realizing greater potential.  And both parties leave warm hearted.  One grain of shift in the world.

Have a nice next flight!
Peter  


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On Aug 9, 2015, at 10:38 AM, Sami Osborne via Travelandtourism wrote:

> Hello all,
> 
> I just subscribed to this list, so thought I'd introduce myself beforehand.  Some of you may also know me from the NABS list.
> 
> My name is Sami Osborne, and I'm 17, going on 18 next month.  I am also, of course, totally blind.  I really like traveling a lot, and have visited many foreign countries, particularly in Europe, throughout my life.  First, I go with my mom and younger brother to France every summer to visit other relatives (my mom is originally from France) (which, by the way, we just came back from last Friday).  I think it is a really nice country to visit, and would definitely recommend it to others, especially Paris and also a town called Noiremoutier, where one of my uncles, aunts and cousins rent a beach house every summer, it's so nice there.  This year, we also went to Spain for my high school graduation present.  I also really like it, although it does get unpleasantly hot in some areas.
> Other countries we've been to include Venice, Italy, (where we've been twice, once by car and the other time by overnight train from Paris,) Belgium, and England.  I've never really been to any other countries in North America, except for a road trip to Newfoundland, Canada, and I'd also like to go to Montreal.
> 
> My experiences on planes in regards to blindness has overall been fairly well, although I did notice that some airlines do different things to accommodate people who are blind.  For example, when we were going to France last month,  we took British Airways (although we didn't have to stop in England, because the plane flew directly to Paris from New York where we live) and both on the way in and way back, the flight attendant actually got up and showed me where I could find the light jackets and emergency exits (although I didn't actually get up, the flight attendant just explained in words).  This happened only on British Airways, not on any other airline I've taken.  Also, unfortunately, last month we also flew with Iberia to get from Paris to Madrid for our trip to Spain, and at check-in at the airport in Paris, the airline clerk, even though I was walking with my family, asked if I needed any special assistance.  They didn't do this in Spain, though, so that was good.  Also, when we were going to France last year, we took Aer Lingus and made a stop in Dublin, Ireland before continuing on to Paris.  On the way back to New York with that airline, two things happened to accommodate my blindness: first, when we boarded the plane, the flight attendant actually gave me an airline safety brochure in Braille, which I read before the plane departed.  But then, when we got to the airport in New York, they asked me if I needed a wheelchair.  Does anyone know why airport employees would still ask if you need assistance even if you're with your family or friends? I've never been able to figure that out.
> 
> I really enjoy traveling and exploring different places.  Most everywhere I've been to is very nice, and would like to see even more.  I also would like to be a language interpreter for the UN after I finish college, and in theory I would have to travel a lot, so am also excited about that.
> 
> I'm very glad to be a member of this list, and hope to enjoy discussions on here.
> 
> Thanks in advance,
> 
> Sami
> 
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