Category: The Rave Board
OK, folks, so I often see board topics around here where we bitch about the sighted publick, how they treat us, and the misconceptions that are out there. But, in the last 24 hours, I've encountered two sighted people who really had the right attitude about things. I've gotta say, it's a very refreshing experience. I like when it happens, because it helps ease the anger I sometimes feel from the negative things I encounter.
So yesterday, I talked to this guy at work who had a completely bull's-eye view of blind people and employment. His name is John, and he's a tech guy in the building. He was talking about how he once hired a blind guy as an Unix administrator. His colleagues were very doubtful, but they were part of the hiring process. They didn't want to even interview the blind person, but John told them to give the guy a chance. They interviewed this guy, and came out saying that he had taught them things that even they did not know about Unix. John was saying that he didn't understand why employers are so skittish about hiring blind people, or providing them with whatever accommodations are needed to make a job accessible for them. His theory is that you just provide them with JAWS, a Braille display, screen magnification, whatever the situation called for, and away they went. He was saying that he's worked with several blind folks, and found them to be his best and brightest employees. He wasn't even saying it with the, "blind peple are so amazing," condescension, just that we are equals. If there were more employers like that, a hell of a lot more of us would have jobs.
and then there's this morning. My internet went down unexpectedly. I couldn't get it back, so I called Qwest. First miracle was that the tech support agent spoke English! How about that? But I digress. Most of you guys know that I'm totally blind, and so of course can't see the lights on my modem when I'm having trouble with it. Nine times out of ten, when I've called Qwest, or any company for that matter, for internet help, agents get extremely flustered and/or condescending when I tell them about my blindness. Many tell me that they can't help me until I get a sighted person over to my house to see the lights for me. Some even get all pissy that I called with no sighted person there to see the lights, or for them to talk to. This woman had no such reaction. She didn't stammer all over herself, actually stayed friendly and professional, and was smart enough to know she could solve the problem using the info she could see from her end of the phone line. She treated me with respect, and as an equal. She even solved the problem in a timely manner, or I wouldn't be writing this. Too bad agents like her are so rare. I immediately wrote a commendation email to her supervisor.
So, all that to say that there are sighted folks out there who do actually get it, and I'm glad for it.
Alicia you should consider joining the Coast Guard Auxiliary. I find them, and military people in general, to be pretty normal about this stuff. I was in a Division meeting with forty people and nobody did anything weird. Almost everyone was complete strangers to me, and I find that while I've just gotten used to people's reactions, like getting used to living in cold rain in Portland, I kept inside myself being shocked. I don't think about how people treat me that often, because I find such thoughts fruitless, but they were so profoundly *normal* about it, I was continually forced to think about it.
This was an entire roomful of people, about forty people if I'm a reasonable judge of numbers, and they come from all areas: boaters mostly, people who build their own watercraft some of them. Some pilots, a couple firefighters, stuff like that.
One of our people went to the gulf to serve in Deepwater, and he's in a wheelchair. Not intending to be condescending or nothin' but talk about needs for accomodation! Where he went there was no chair lift for him, he had to pay extra for a car he could get the chair into, and the Coast Guard reimbursed him. Anyway, their only response to that was they hadn't had that situation before and needed to fix it so he doesn't do out of pocket first.
Ironically because of how normal these people as a whole huge group act, I find myself thinking about it more than I ever have. Simply because they're so normal it's just a non-issue. And this means they go ahead and ask the tough questions without tripping over themselves, and not with the presupposition of my not being able to.
So, my favorite thing, I can skip the BS, jump in the game and get 'er done.
Awesome! You bring to mind a few people I've met at school and online with the first story. I find that many technical people are like that. They are more likely to see blindness as an optical hardware defect and nothing else. Then that need to solve a new puzzle kicks in, and they ask, "Since you can't see, how can we go about this differently?" That is one advantage I've found while studying CS - They tend to think more like me.
I love it when I meet people who are genuinely educated rather than just think that having looked after an elderly sightless relative gives them authority on blindness as a whole, because it really doesn't.
I told my facebook friends recently that I was approached by a very young boy at the local shop who instead of being impolitely curious or inappropriate, without parental encouragement asked me if I needed any help to find what I was looking for. I was actually so shocked that I stood there looking at him for ages. he probably thought I was mental lol.
I've also met a few good peple at airports and train stations who instead of treating me like an inconvenience, totally understood that I was perfectly capable of being independent and that all I needed was help to do things that I physically couldn't do, and when they learnt I was travelling alone, they didn't remark at how brave I am or how amazing I was or how dangerous it was for me, treated it as totally normal, which is what I want in life.
I would like to say some things too. I started college last Jan and ran in to some ishues of people over helping me and talking down to me, things that we all read and spoke about on this sight: but I do have to say I love going to this school. Now I am in my second semester, I have allot more self asteam and selfconfadence in myself witch helps not just me, but my teachers as well. My teachers try so hard to go out of their way to get my work to me in time and then if I run in to ishues and can not turn it in, they don't act like everything counts on me giving them my home work. They even have done what they have to to change their teaching habits so I can follow along with the rest of the class. Yes at first it took me to remind them to tell me what they are holding up or pointing at, but they never got up tight about it. I also found that if I learn to speak to more then just the teachers, I can have a bunch of friends in my classes. I have people saving me seets, coming up to talk and driving me home and everything. No they don't wait on me hand and foot nor am I depending on them but I have a bit more help and new friends I know I could rely on. Sorry I am writing so much but I love going to school and all the stuff I do, and having people who are willing to help in the stores and here in my own apartment complex or who just talk to me like normal makes me feel like it isn't so bad after all that I can't see like them. It makes me feel like I am not some wierd one of a kind mystory freak.
i turn to think sometime, it depends very much on the atitude of we, as the blind person ourselves as to how we want to treate the sighteds too. yes, there are some total ignorence out there, about blindness, calling a white cane as a stick for example, or calling guidedogs as blinddogs, but yet, there are a lot of blind people giving the same assumtion towards the sighted world.
perhaps, we aren't that close with the sighted people, we tempt to stereotype the sighties, sometime, even more than they stereotype us, as the blind in hole.
i never have problems with my fellow university students, or organizations that i'm volunteer with. yes, people might want to ask questions, but at the same time, they just curious, and wanting to know or learn, more than being nosy.
however, i feel, in my case anyway, women in particular, those who reach their 40s or 50s or older, are those who are extremely ignorence towards the blind, and do not wanting to learn/know anything about it, beside stereotyping us as people who is disable, instead of people who have disability.
Alicia, how awesome. And good for you for writing a commedation to that woman's supervisor. Too many of us don't think of things like that.
I think the reason I think of those kinds of things is because I've worked so many customer service jobs. Particularly the inbound telephone jobs. I know by personal experience that it's always nice to get a commendation on your file, and that many companies have rewards for you if you get enough of them. She deserves it.
I tend to agree with Cappuccino on the demographics issue. Always found that particular population most problematic and can't imagine how difficult it would be to get one of them out of a fire or flood should they be in one of those stubborn modes or a matronly huff.
agree with post 9, and i do think, also, they tempt to be the one who manify our disability, asking silly questions, and questioning our ability and capability to succeed as a person because we simply can't see.