Scott.Howell@f521.n109.z1.fidonet.org (Scott Howell) (10/26/90)
Index Number: 11288 [This is from the Blink Talk Conference] >To: all > >"Glen, In a message to Willie, you said,I don't need the help, I >have an obligation to politely decline the offer. I >when this is the 20th >offer I've had on a day, I don't do so good at meeting this >goal,". Seems to me, that If 20 different people are offering you >help, you either live in a very helpful neighborhood or you look >like you really need the help. I think if I were to encounter so >many offers of aid, I might conclude the latter. I would probably >engage the aid of a sighted friend and have them watch me walk my >route and then comment on why people constantly thought I needed >help. > You amazed me with, "all I can do is whatever it takes to >get them to just leave me alone! I usually say something like >"Are ya deaf or on drugs?"". What makes you think that you are so >special? What does being the hind end of a donkey prove? Just >because you are blind means you must be resistant to help? Your >statement has got to be the stupidest thing I have ever seen. do >you think sighted people get through life without any help? Before I agree, I have people ask me all the time to and from work "would you like to sit down, need help, there is a seat here if you wish, here is the train, watch your near the edge, etc" now, sometimes after a while it gets a little and I mean just a little annoing, but they are kind enough to warn me or help me. There is absolutely no reason to snap at someone for offering help and if you do then that shows your stupidity. I am very sorry, but I feel very strongly about that. I also feel very strongly that if you want to be accepted then you must play the game. I don't want some little world just for the blind, I enjoy everything around me and take full advantage. I enjoy people so sometimes the offer of help is a chance to talk with people. I have friends who forget I am even blind and start walking away and then relize "oh!!! sorry Scott I forgot you were blind hahah" a big joke, but that is how well I have managed to fit in. It isn't even a real question of fitting in, but a question of whether or not you want people to see you as a person or a person with a "handicap". I am a person just a person, not a poor helpless blind person; that is the image I set forth. Come on people some of the messages here are very upsetting, I hope some of you really aren't like that. I have been blind for 22 years and have managed very well, I have a friend who lost his sight at 13 and has done remarkably well for loosing his sight and he has delt with it very well, and I know of many sighted people who don't feel the least sorry for me and are very annoid with individuals with a "handicap" that sit and feel sorry for themselves. Scott -- Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!109!521!Scott.Howell Internet: Scott.Howell@f521.n109.z1.fidonet.org
William.Wilson@f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org (William Wilson) (10/26/90)
Index Number: 11319
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
WS> Bravo!!! Don't forget the waiter to get your fruit salad
WS> from the bouffet. Oh, well, might have to teach the
WS> synthesizer how to pronounce that word. Walter
Walter,
You know, you're causing me to do a lot of thinking lately. Now,
knock that off!
In all honesty, I never really considered myself one of those
blinks who puts being able to do something without the assistance of a
sighted person a primary driving force in my world, but I have to admit
that my loss of sight has caused me to modify my behavior in ways I
shouldn't allow! For example, those salad bars and the like were just
becoming popular when I first joined blinkdom, and although I had
previously enjoyed scarfing up at these things, I sort of avoid them
now!
Ok, I feel guilty about this, and I don't want my blindness to
stifle my desire for the buffet any longer. What do you think...Do I
accept the assistance of the waiter or waitress, or do I just stick my
finger in every item, give it a lick, and may my selections based upon
this limited information?
Willie
... Like a bat out of Bellevue!
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Internet: William.Wilson@f89.n129.z1.fidonet.orgGlen.Nielson@f778.n115.z1.fidonet.org (Glen Nielson) (10/26/90)
Index Number: 11347
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
Howdy Henry,
For your information, I may be beyond the "following
the route" stage of mobility. Inasmuch as it appears from
what you say that you haven't spent much time learning a
new route on your own--and haven't realised how much you
can learn when you figure things out for yourself, I can
understand why you may not have experienced 20 offers of
help in a day.
Also, maybe I am sometimes excessively rude, but you
don't even seem to believe that blinks can decline unneeded
help.
Glen
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