Apparently I have “helpless” stamped on my forehead today. Is there some radio station contest I don’t know about, or maybe show on TV? I’ve had multiple strangers try to help me today - only trouble is they’ve wanted to help me with things I either don’t need or don’t want.
This morning I tried to catch the 7:00 a.m. bus to work in hopes of getting into the office early and getting a head start on things. I just missed the bus, and rather than stand on the corner for a half hour, I walked down to McDonalds and got an egg sandwich (there goes the diet already!). As I stood outside near the McDonalds I had not one, not two, but three people try to stop and offer me a ride or give me directions.
I know that to most of you that sounds very nice, and I have no doubt that these were the most kind-hearted souls who really wanted to help me – but I wish I could redirect their enthusiasm.
One lady almost caused an accident on Metcalf because she stopped right there in the middle of the street and proceeded to yell out her car window at me from across the road. I couldn’t even really hear her over the traffic. The other two pulled into the McDonalds parking lot, got out of their cars, and tried to help me assuming that a blind person standing on the street must surely be lost and couldn’t possibly know what she was doing.
I assure you that if I were lost I would not simply stand on the street and wait for random cars to stop and rescue me. If I were lost, blind as I am, I might actually wander into one of many, many businesses lining the street and ask for directions.
This is one of those blindness things that gets on my nerves. Several times a week some enthusiastic do-gooder comes bounding up to me as I wait for a light to change determined to help me cross the street. It cracks me up because typically I’ve walked several blocks, if not even several miles, before reaching that given light. How do they think I arrived at the streetlight? Perhaps beamed in Star Trek fashion?
Now, there are probably some of you reading this that think I’m just too much of a cranky, uppity blind chick and I ought to be more gracious and accept the help, even if I don’t want it. Here’s the problem with that.
It’s the attitude that a blind person walking down the street couldn’t possibly know where she is that is the reason there’s a 70 percent unemployment rate among working age, legally blind adults. That do-gooder, when they’re sitting across the interview desk from you, takes those same false beliefs about the abilities of blind people and applies them to the work place.
This is why I am so dreading job hunting – and partly why I’ve been in the same job for eight (almost nine) years.
I graduated from journalism school at the top of my class. I had a portfolio full of work and several internships under my belt. But as the months rolled by and all my classmates found jobs – I remained unemployed. It took me a year to find my first job, and even then it was a part-time job. I survived on Supplemental Security Income, picking up some freelance work (when you get assignments over the phone no one knows you’re blind) and selling some of my artwork.
It was a horrible time in my life. The people that knew me best, and that I should have been able to count on for support, were convinced I just wasn’t trying hard enough. They couldn’t imagine how the Heather they knew wasn’t employable. I, however, endured multiple interviews where I was asked questions such as, “If you worked in our newsroom, would you need help finding the restroom?” Or, “If you worked in our newsroom, will you need a guide to get around?” Or, the classic, “Oh I’m sorry; we require all of our reporters to be able to drive.” (Sometimes a reasonable requirement, and sometimes not)
Those well-meaning people and their misplaced desire to do good to their fellow man are not harmless. But, how do take an instant at a streetlight and turn it into a teachable moment without sounding bitter and crabby?
This morning I tried to catch the 7:00 a.m. bus to work in hopes of getting into the office early and getting a head start on things. I just missed the bus, and rather than stand on the corner for a half hour, I walked down to McDonalds and got an egg sandwich (there goes the diet already!). As I stood outside near the McDonalds I had not one, not two, but three people try to stop and offer me a ride or give me directions.
I know that to most of you that sounds very nice, and I have no doubt that these were the most kind-hearted souls who really wanted to help me – but I wish I could redirect their enthusiasm.
One lady almost caused an accident on Metcalf because she stopped right there in the middle of the street and proceeded to yell out her car window at me from across the road. I couldn’t even really hear her over the traffic. The other two pulled into the McDonalds parking lot, got out of their cars, and tried to help me assuming that a blind person standing on the street must surely be lost and couldn’t possibly know what she was doing.
I assure you that if I were lost I would not simply stand on the street and wait for random cars to stop and rescue me. If I were lost, blind as I am, I might actually wander into one of many, many businesses lining the street and ask for directions.
This is one of those blindness things that gets on my nerves. Several times a week some enthusiastic do-gooder comes bounding up to me as I wait for a light to change determined to help me cross the street. It cracks me up because typically I’ve walked several blocks, if not even several miles, before reaching that given light. How do they think I arrived at the streetlight? Perhaps beamed in Star Trek fashion?
Now, there are probably some of you reading this that think I’m just too much of a cranky, uppity blind chick and I ought to be more gracious and accept the help, even if I don’t want it. Here’s the problem with that.
It’s the attitude that a blind person walking down the street couldn’t possibly know where she is that is the reason there’s a 70 percent unemployment rate among working age, legally blind adults. That do-gooder, when they’re sitting across the interview desk from you, takes those same false beliefs about the abilities of blind people and applies them to the work place.
This is why I am so dreading job hunting – and partly why I’ve been in the same job for eight (almost nine) years.
I graduated from journalism school at the top of my class. I had a portfolio full of work and several internships under my belt. But as the months rolled by and all my classmates found jobs – I remained unemployed. It took me a year to find my first job, and even then it was a part-time job. I survived on Supplemental Security Income, picking up some freelance work (when you get assignments over the phone no one knows you’re blind) and selling some of my artwork.
It was a horrible time in my life. The people that knew me best, and that I should have been able to count on for support, were convinced I just wasn’t trying hard enough. They couldn’t imagine how the Heather they knew wasn’t employable. I, however, endured multiple interviews where I was asked questions such as, “If you worked in our newsroom, would you need help finding the restroom?” Or, “If you worked in our newsroom, will you need a guide to get around?” Or, the classic, “Oh I’m sorry; we require all of our reporters to be able to drive.” (Sometimes a reasonable requirement, and sometimes not)
Those well-meaning people and their misplaced desire to do good to their fellow man are not harmless. But, how do take an instant at a streetlight and turn it into a teachable moment without sounding bitter and crabby?
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