I'm sorry but all of you need to give members of the sighted public
around you a break. They are asking stuff like "can you see a bit",
because to them the idea of going blind is a terrifying prospect. And
they say stuff like "how do you get on the right bus" because they are
astonished at your independence and doubt their own resolve to be so if
they were to suffer sight loss.
Just like thin folks who stare at us fatties, who do so because of their
own morbid fear of being thought of as 'fat', sighted folks fear
blindness and don't understand it.
I would certainly NEVER refuse help in the street or be rude when
somebody states the bloody obvious like "you're walking towards a wall",
because, I might not need help, but the next blind person along might.
And if I'm rude, that sighted person might not help the next person.
Sadly the RNIB and Guide Dogs are suffering a common problem of modern
times; they are run by suits who "know the price of everything and the
value of nothing".
And if somebody talks to you on the train or the bus, even if they are
spouting rubbish, at least they are talking. We live in a society now
where most of us, blind or sighted, go through our outside life in
silent isolation, making and seeking no eye-contact, words like 'hello'
and 'hi' which cost nothing and make a massive difference.
The RNIB are using ads like the ones mentioned to try to raise money
from people who are themselves terrified of losing their sight. That's
why they use the emotive things they do. Although I can see how it
might be seen as a negative by someone who has lived for a long time
with reduced vision, or total blindness, but if it persuades a few
people to cough up a few quid then fine. They can use me if they like
because I have no hesitation in being plain about how total blindness
often leaves me wishing I wouldn't wake up tomorrow. Mostly because
nobody takes any notice of me when I say I can still write code that
will leave most sighted school-leavers standing, but I can't get a job.
Mike
On 09/10/2015 14:28, john gallagher wrote:
hi janet strangely when i got in to the leeds station today a dog tried to
get to zarah and it was someone with a training dog maybe aben drury but of
course they never speak to us or anything but, like ian says all this from a
charity that years ago fought of us like hell campained for things to be
bejter for us people have been on committees spending hours fighting for our
rights and now they come out with something like this. the public are very
gullable and believe all this rubbish.
in sheffield people used to ask me how i got on the right bus and i told them
the dog could read the numbers and you know they believed it.
----- Original Message -----
From: Janet Bell <janet@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Friday, 9 October 2015 2:22 pm
Subject: [access-uk] Re: RNIB PRODUCT BOYCOTT
** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:-
Hi John
I just despair of these people and you are right you tell guide dogs things
and no notice is taken whatsoever because totally blind people are in a
minority they are just left on the shelf to disappear.
-----Original Message-----
From: john gallagher
Sent: Friday, October 09, 2015 2:17 PM
To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [access-uk] Re: RNIB PRODUCT BOYCOTT
hi janet well i am certainly not going to pay for the rubbish over drive set
up sad really but to me like the guide dogs the people at the top never
discuss anything with us at the bottom so to speak. also on the train today
someone was adamant i could see are you parttly sighted she kept asking it
just felt as though i had landed from outer space.
----- Original Message -----
From: Janet Bell <janet@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Friday, 9 October 2015 1:59 pm
Subject: [access-uk] Re: RNIB PRODUCT BOYCOTT
** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:-
Hi Ian
I don't know if you read this newspaper but last week in the daily mirror
there was an article about an American woman who wanted to go blind which
infuriated me about as much as what you have written has. There was also
an
advert about fifteen years ago done by action for blind people that made
us
look totally helpless which annoyed me as well. I don't buy the rnib's
products as I think they are poor quality most of the time. and when my
year's subscription is up I don't think I will renew it either.
Janet ps there are still letters at the bottom of your messages.
-----Original Message-----
From: Ian Macrae
Sent: Friday, October 09, 2015 1:52 PM
To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [access-uk] RNIB PRODUCT BOYCOTT
I am seriously considering boycotting what few RNIB products and services
I
use — chiefly the electronic newspaper service — in response to their
latest
ad campaign. There has been an item on this at the end of today's edition
of WATO. Celebs including Barbara Windsor and Shirley Bassey are
presented
talking about the idea of being told they're going blind. Bassey
describes
that possibility as being "Devastating" and says she might as well be told
that she's going to die. Once again they have turned my impairment into
a
thing of terror and me into an object of pity and I've had enough of
x.ation"^j""""b""%""(""^"i"v&"z\""Yh"gg"gg"""""q"ea"J""""zX"""+???"comCbi'ththth&"ff"a""b"Ghz""Chae"?"""jgththth
"""q"ea"J""""zX"""+"""{ay+??"com?)?inin^"{.n"+????"com""""\"i"""ea""Z"""j""jy"brJ'"?oneng"""those'"_z0"xshyoungandjggmththzth_ththththth-_^"""+com"""""ity"_er"""u"""z"q""z"""ity""
hisy@+88
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