George, I don't know where you got the idea that I am an NFB member. Nothing could be further from the truth. So, I'd say you owe me an appology for all the accusations you have unloaded on me. I don't purport to speak for "all" or "most" or "some" blind people, I'm just "speaking for myself" giving my opinion on the topic. If a wireless service provides a print directory to it's customers, then and only then should they provide free directory assistants. And if a lan based company provides a printed directory, be it their own or one produced by their competitors, for it's customers, then they should provide free directory assistants for blind and others with print disabilities.
If the arguement is that the electronic phone book or other services integrated into the wireless device are not accessible, then one should file a complaint or ADA suit against the provider on that basis.
Thank you all,
_________________________________
Terri Hedgpeth
Disability Specialist .
Disability Resources for Students
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ 85287-3202
(480) 965-1232 (v)
(480) 965-0441 (fax)
-----Original Message-----
From: George Cassell [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2003 3:18 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Update on Sprint PCS free directory assistance
Terri said ...
"Hey, wait a minute. Where did this sense of entitlement come from. The only
reason wired lan lines offer free directory assistance is because it
provides equal access for blind persons to their published print phone book.
There isn't a published print directory that wireless companies provide for
their customers. Thus, sighted have to pay for directory assistants, so why
not blind people. That is reverse discrimination. I am blind and I hope
others will join me in speaking out against this."
Sorry, Terri, but I will join others in speaking out against you instead,
and the absurdly ludicrous positions of you and your NFB, which insists on
punishing those of us who are blind or visually-impaired, because we refuse
to act like Super Blinks, who can single-handedly climb every mountain,
safely cross every street, and allow seven year old girls to drown, just to
prove that, being blind, we're somehow superior to everyone else,
particularly the sighted population.
If you, and your cronies at NFB, want to do everything yourselves, without
anyone else's assistance, be my guest. I'd be the last one to lend you a
helping hand.
But don't you dare claim to speak for the millions of us, who are blind or
visually-impaired, and who wouldn't join the NFB, if our lives depended on
it.
I'm getting very sick and tired of the Federationists spouting off all the
time, claiming to speak for us, and others who are unable to see, telling
the world that we don't need free directory assistance, audible crossing
signals, warning strips at railroad platforms, descriptive video so we can
know what's happening on our TV screens, Guide Dogs to lead us, and all
those other wonderful endeavors that the NFB opposes , to punish, and
endanger the lives of the millions of us who do not, and will not associate
ourselves with the likes of the Federationists who, we are firmly convinced,
are not only visually-impaired, but mentally deficient as well.
Your group's positions on these matters border on the insane. Can you
imagine people who use wheelchairs, actively campaigning against curb cuts,
wheelchair ramps and disabled-accessible toilets, because some people might
think that they can't walk up the stairs all by themselves? Well guess
what? They can't!
And, because NFBers are too dense to realize it, I'd better spell it out for
you -- the blind can't see! Get it? We're blind!
The only reverse discrimination going on here, is the NFB actively working
and campaigning AGAINST the blind! So go spout your verbal diarrhea
somewhere else, or just wait until your next national convention, where you
can try to appear normal, among the other malcontents and misfits of life.
-- George )who speaks for himself, and will take every opportunity to point
out the insanity of the NFB, it's positions, and the people who support
them.)
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