One way that I deal with this issue is to settle for compensation instead
of access.

For instance, I don't complain about the New York City subway. As long as
they give me a half-price fare, I think of that as compensation for
thinconveniences, or bribing me to keep quiet.

If they ever take it away, I will insist that they paint all of the
obstructions in high-contrast black and white stripes. Clearly, it is far
cheaper for them to give me a reduced fare, and I accept this
compensation.

Last Thursday, I went to a movie theater alone - for the first time since
loosing my sight. This may sound strange, but I'm in the habit of thinking
that I have to line up accomodations before I do things. This time, I
wanted to see the Truman Show, and I was tired of trying to get all my
ducks in a row before I could go. So, I just went alone.

On the way, I decided to ask for the half-price admission price for
children and seniors. I was prepared to make my case, but it wasn't
necessary.

When I got to the window, I asked for a discount and they had one and gave
it to me. I paid three dollars instead of ten.

I was prepared to argue that I needed the extra three bucks to hire the
person in the seat next to me to narrate. It turned out that I didn't hire
anybody, and just pocketed the savings. I chatted with a woman who was
leaving the theater, and she filled me in on the visual passages that I
had missed - and she didn't charge me. I used the three bucks to treat her
to a capuccino.

So, I'm not complaining. Instead of a descriptive narration, I got a date.

Last night, I went to the super market and a woman, not an employee,
offered to take me around. She told me that her daughter is legally blind.
It turns out that her daughter also has an optic nerve disease, only, in
her case, the condition could have been prevented. The result is that her
daughter won a million dollars in a mal practice suit. Not bad.

My assistant said that her daughter thought that her blindness was "meant
to be."

"Easy for her to say," I thought, "if she came to that conclusion after
she became a millionaire." What about those of us who lose our vision, and
end up paying for the privilege in lost earning potential, and needing to
buy adaptive equipment, in addition to everything else?

Anyway, my serendipitous stories result from cases where the theater,
super market, and so on do not provide accommodations. They may not be
worth a million dollars, but they are a form of compensation, anyway.

 Peter Seymour

On Tue, 7 Jul 1998, Dan Rossi wrote:

> So, where do you draw the line between accessibility and accessory?
>
> Sure I can ask a friend to describe what is going on during a movie or a
> play.  But that implies that I will always have a friend along.  Not to
> mention that it might disturb the people around me.
>
> If we should not make a big deal about things that are just conveniences
> why should we have braile on the outside of elevators?  I could always
> just ask someone when I get to the floor.  I have yet to meat a person,
> sighted or blind, that requires programs like real audio for their job.
> Yet I hear people yelling about accessibility to that program.
>
> I'm not saying there is a right or wrong here, just that the lines can
> blurr pretty easily.
>
> And why did Ms. Kong have to throw in that crap about a blind person being
> inseccure or uncomfortable with their blindness.  It had nothing to do
> with the issue.
>
> And especially at the end where she said, and I'm way paraphrasing here,
> "if we have to ask for things like audio descriptions that cost extra
> money aren't we saying that we need so much more and that is a burden on
> movie houses and play houses."
>
> So does that mean that we should not ask companies to lay out money for
> adaptive equipment?  Would it be wrong for me to approache my employer and
> ask them to purchase an upgrade to my speech package because it might help
> me do my job better?
>
> Does that mean we should abolish S.S.I?  Talk about a burden.
>
> End Rant.
>
>
> Dan
>
> -----
> Blue Skies
> Dan Rossi
> (412) 201-3634
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>