Hi List,

Lest we get too excited, here is what I overheard at an accessibility 
conference a while back.

I will set the scene:

1.  There was a break just before lunch.
2.  I with my stumbling mobility (I have other disability issues than 
blindness) was just making my way slowly out of the conference room, when 
what to my wandering ears--I heard 2 old councilors talking shop.
3. Just preceding the break, 2 individuals, one from the National Federation 
Of The Blind and the other from The American Council Of The Blind had a 
rather heated exchange--the issue isn't important, but here is what I heard 
the 2 councilors say.

Councilor #1: You gotta watch those 2.
Councilor #2: Yeah?
Councilor #1: they're from opposing groups.
Councilor #2: Yeah, I gathered that.

Councilor #1:  You get a bunch of these blind people in a room together from 
opposing sides and you're likely to have a riot.  You can molest their wives 
and daughters and steel their money and many of them will back off; but if 
you tell them that the organization they belong to is the wrong one or if 
you're from the one and they're from the other, and if they get into an 
argument, they'll beat each other!
councilor #2: Really?
Councilor #1: Yeah, Really!  I've seen 'em come to blows.  Blind people are 
funny that way, they can be reasonable about many things, but get them into 
a discussion over which advocacy group is better NFB or ACB; which guide dog 
school is better; or which screen reader is better and you got problems. 
They lose all perspective and become irrational.
Councilor #1: (laughing) Well, I guess we're gonna need a referee in here, 
if things get hot and heavy again.

Apparently they were oblivious of the fact that they might be overheard.

I always thought that was humerous--in a sort of wackier way.


The Scourge Of Authoritarianism Is Intellectualism