GE0013@SIUCVMB.BITNET (Roy Miller) (02/27/90)
Index Number: 6958 Pat Goltz has written: >A blind scuba diver feeling the bubbles coming out of his breathing >apparatus to tell which way is up. Why didn't I think of that? ... >Now, a bigger question is, how does a blind person avoid touching >something that stings? Well, I can't speak as a blind person (because I'm not--I'm deaf), but I can speak as a diver. Even a sighted person often doesn't know whether or not something "stings," especially when diving in unfamiliar underwater habitats. For me, however, that doesn't produce much of a problem. The underwater world is such a fragile ecosystem that when diving I (and all of my diving buddies) try not to "touch" anything. Much like the caver who tries to "leave nothing but footprints, and take nothing but pictures," the ecology minded diver trys to "leave nothing but expelled air, and take nothing but pictures." By not touching things, we don't run the risk of damaging a fragile ecology, and we leave it just as we found it for others to enjoy. (And we don't have to worry about whether or not things sting!) Roy Miller The Professor Who Never Listens, But Whose Eyes Hear A Lot
GE0013@SIUCVMB.BITNET (Roy Miller) (03/23/90)
Index Number: 7257
Hi Pat,
You recently indicated that "The only trouble with saying you
shouldn't touch anything when SCUBA diving is that blind people are
much more likely to touch things inadvertently!" I can certainly
understand that. However, I would hope that no one (blind or
sighted) would make the mistake of diving alone. Rather, we always
dive with at least one diving "buddy." And I would further hope
that a blind diver would always be safety-minded enough to always
have a sighted person for their diving buddy. If so, that diving
buddy should very effectively be able to "steer" the blind diver
away from things that look like they might sting if touched
inadvertently.
ROY E. MILLER
THE PROFESSOR WHO NEVER LISTENS,
BUT WHOSE EYES HEAR A LOT
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