Let me add that with the new security regulations, people with
disabilities might and probabbly will encounter difficulties flying in
the future. The reason I bring this up is I was doing a fair amount of
flying in and out of the NY airports: JFK, LaGuardia and Newark, in the
late 1970's and early to mid 1980's. My family lived in NorthWestern NJ
and I was attending college in NorthWestern Ohio.
Due to the Cuban Hostage Crisis, alot of the airports in the NorthEast
part of the country were operating with some of the same hightened
security that we will "enjoy" for the foreseeable future. I vividly
remember landing in Newark after laying over in Pittsburg. As I got
ready to disembark in Newark, I overheard a onversation between two
women and a member of the cabin crew. Both of these women were
completely blind and had expected the FAA and Newark International
Airport to make an exception and allow at least one person from their
family past X-Ray to come help them. (Pittsburg's Allegany Airport
allowed someone NOT Ticleted to go past X-Ray and even get them settled
on board the aircraft.)
WRONG!!! And the USAir flight crew was somewhat less than willing to
help them. So, out of a desire to see these women get off the plane and
to the waiting arms of their family, I offered to assist them. There my
mother stood, just on the other side of X-Ray, with the oddest look on
her face. After I saw to the women, my mother asked me about my "two
new friends". (She was NOT expecting me to bring anyone home with me
for my Christmas Break.) When I explained to her what the situation
was, she was just as stunned as I was to find out another PASSENGER had
to take over.
So, let's all be on the lookout for some "stranded" disabled people and
help them get where they need to. I KNOW, as I have been flying in and
out of LaGuardia with a rather revolting and financially draining
frequency, that there will be some disabled people stranded in the NY
airports, as well as others, as I have very seldom seen a truly HELPFUL
person on staff there.
I know I would go out of my way to assist a disabled person, even if it
meant going way out of my way. Since I have been doing MOST of my
flying solo in and out of Atlanta / Hartsfield International (The
Busiest Airport In The World) and New York / LaGuardia International and
being Legally Blind, I sometimes have more than a little trouble
figuring out where I need to be and how to get there. I can't imagine
being totally blind and flying solo.
I do think we, as disabled people or people that truly want to help
"level the playing field" for the disabled, ought to let people and
institutions like WABC / NY know just how hurtful and destructive
hate-mongering is, whether it be against innocent Arab Americans of
children of Islam OR the disabled.
Mary Blanton (Who's Vision Care Specialist has been incommunicato since
the collapse and who is praying he is OK. His web site is down too.)
"gregory j. rosmaita" wrote:
> aloha, jay - while i share your abhorrence of the type of hate-mongering
> radio exemplified by WABC, i think that there is much to be gained by
> discussing the severe difficulties encountered by people with disabilities
> who were either affected directly by the attacks or who were stranded in
> airports due to the closure of the nation's airspace... no, the attack
> was not directed at anyone in particular, which is one of the reasons it
> is termed a "terrorist act", but to ignore the realities confronted by
> those for whom walking down several dozen flights of stairs simply wasn't
> an option or who were trapped in airports without recourse to medications,
> etc. is something that should, nay must, be examined
>
> personally, i would like to hear this subject tackled by the major media
> outlets - or at least National Public Radio - and not just by a show by
> and for persons with disabilities. by that statement, i do not mean to
> denigrate "on a roll", but only to decry a culture of victimization that
> objectifies persons with disabilities as objects of pity whose functional
> limitations make them less than human.
>
> jay, it is your inalienable right not to listen to anything that you don't
> want to hear, but it is also the inalienable right of others to not only
> listen, but to speak out... i fail to understand why exactly you believe
> this broadcast to be a "bad idea" - i do not think it represents a
> ghettoization of suffering - on the contrary, it may help to bring to the
> attention of the public in general many issues about which they would
> otherwise probably never know... equating this broadcast with the trash
> emanating from WABC, however, is not only unfair, but unfounded...
>
> an event as traumatic as those which occurred on tuesday MUST be explored
> in all of its facets - true, the same impulse that led to the illegal
> detention and imprisonment of americans of japanese descent in the
> aftermath of the attack on pearl harbor has reared its ugly head in the
> aftermath of tuesday's attacks, and the impulse to mete out justice based
> on hammarubi's code, which demands an eye for an eye and a tooth for a
> tooth, must not only be resisted, but exposed as perpetuating cycles of
> violence and hatred... as thomas jefferson observed in his first
> inaugural address, "error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is
> left free to combat it" - in my opinion it MUST be tolerated, provided
> that there are those, such as yourself, who will, and do, combat
> ignorance, hatred, and intolerance, but to ignore the reality of the
> situations faced by those with disabilities in the face of such an event
> is, in my opinion, to stick one's head into the sand...
>
> i have no desire to begin an internecine thread on the utility or futility
> of such programs as "on a roll" while we all live in the shadow of
> uncertainty - uncertainty as to the fate of those we know and love,
> uncertainty as to what impact the attacks will have on our lives,
> uncertainty as to what the future holds... but to ignore the fact that,
> under circumstances of fear, the "otherness" of those with disabilities
> leads to their complete objectification - as is the case whenever i travel
> through britain, where the presumption seems to be, based upon repeated
> personal experience, that a blind individual can't possibly know what is
> in their baggage or even on their person - should and must be combatted...
>
> On Fri, 14 Sep 2001, Jay Leventhal wrote:
> > Hi Everyone,
> >
> > My first reaction is that this radio show is a bad idea. The people who
> > planned the attacks were not attacking people with disabilities or any
> > other single group. They were attacking Americans. Thousands of people lost
> > their lives, regardless of whether they were Christians, Jews, Moslems,
> > dyslexic, blind, deaf, liberal or conservative. It took less than 24 hours
> > for WABC radio in New York to resume its racist, political hate
> > broadcasting. This show will not be like that. But, we have to stop
> > thinking in small groups and deal with the suffering of all of the people
> > who were affected, not just a few of them. I won't be listening.
> >
> >
> > Jay Leventhal
> >
> >
> > At 06:27 PM 9/13/01 -0400, gregory j. rosmaita wrote:
> > >On A Roll -- Talk Radio on Life & Disability
> > >Sunday 6-8 PM Eastern Time
> > >http://www.onarollradio.com
> > >listen to the show live: http://www.broadcast.com/shows/onaroll/
> > >
> > >[note to VICUG NYC members - you will have to listen to either the live
> > >webcast or the show when it is archived, as it is not carried by any local
> > >radio station]
> > >
> > >"On A Roll" would like to offer the disability community an opportunity to
> > >express itself in the wake of the horror of September 11th's tragedy.
> > >This week's program will be devoted to the disability community's
> > >perspective on the New York and Washington DC attacks.
> > >
> > >* If you were in or near the World Trade Center or the Pentagon at the
> > >time of the attacks and would like to share your experience, please
> > >contact [log in to unmask]
> > >
> > >* If you know of a wheelchair user who was in one of the buildings, and
> > >would like to express a tribute to that person, please e-mail
> > >[log in to unmask]
> > >
> > >* If you would simply like to express your feelings about this tragedy,
> > >call the program on Sunday at 1-800-960-4734.
> > >
> > >* If you were stranded due to the airline shutdown, and would like to talk
> > >about that experience, call the program on Sunday at 1-800-960-4734.
> > >(Note: A list of resources for stranded travelers is available at
> > >iCan.com)
> > >
> > >* If you have any other observations or opinions, please participate in
> > >the program on Sunday.
> > >
> > >Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected.
> > >
> > >Sincerely,
> > >Greg Smith
> > >_______________________________________________________________________
> > >
> > >World Trade Center Information & Resources available via the VICUG NYC
> > >web site: http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/vicug/wtc_emergency_info.html
>
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