Ted.Young@p0.f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org (Ted Young) (07/19/90)
Index Number: 9267
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
Regarding the airlines exit row seating question if one believes
that some blind people are as safe, if not more safe than some
sighted people who sit in exit rows, then it seems clear to me that
discrimination occurs when blind people as a class are barred from
those seats. The issue is only distorted by seeking to divide it
and questioning whether this or that blind person is capable with
this or that condition is capable of sitting there. Certainly the
airline does not divide sighted persons who it allows to sit not
concern itself with which sighted persons can sit in exit rows. As
long as one is sighted they can be drunk, agoraphobic, have heart
conditions, etc. and they will still be allowed to sit there and
block the way of a capable blind person. I was once on a
Philadelphia Subway that was on fire. In those crowded
smoke-filled cars walking through the train I can assure you that
no one had an advantage over me, and, I believe that my efforts in
helping to quiet the crowd saved a few sighted people from
panicking and getting hurt. In fact, that is what occurred in some
other cars. I also site an incident in 1981 when a cabin filled
with smoke and a blind person helped people to find the emergency
exit. In conclusion, if one believes that as a class blind people
will have some persons who are more capable than sighted persons
and some who are less capable, in other words if one believes that
blind people are simply people who happen to be blind, then the
only conclusion one can reach is that it is an act of
discrimination to barr us from those rows. Some say that it is not
important as an issue, but, because it conveys a message about us
everytime we are barred from those rows, it is as important as what
we want people to believe about us. After all, people will treat
us in accordance with their beliefs about us so that the issue
transcends exit rows. Ted Young
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