[Blindtlk] going completely barefooted outside: was:Re: Stages of blindness: was: Re: speaking of transit

[Ray Foret jr]

Hi Bonnie,

This is going off list.  Quite right.  So, now it's getting warmer, do you 
go outside completely barefooted yet; if possible?  What about inside?

Thanks.

Sincerely,
The Constantly BAREFOOTED Ray
Phone:
985-360-3375
e-mail:
rforetjratcomcastdotnet
Skype Name:
barefootedray


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bonnie Ainsworth" <cedarwoman1965 at gmail.com>
To: "NFBnet Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 10:25 AM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Stages of blindness: was: Re: speaking of transit


Ray,

I agree with you 100 percent!  I couldn't have said it better.  I too found
that I was in that place to a "purist" point of view on some levels.
However, I've been in the real world both before and after my training, and
reality hits pretty quick.

Unemployment as a blind person is a very humbling experience.  My goal is to
get back off of my SSDI benefits once I obtain full time employment.  Until
then, being on SSDI is a reality I have to live with.  Am I going to take
half price benefits when they are offered?  Heck yeah, but only if my
finances are incredibly low, and it's not because I want to.  I'm still
dealing with the issue of pride, and that's a really big admission I would
have never made in public at one time.  *SMILE*

Bonnie

The more people I meet, the more I like my dog


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ray Foret jr" <rforetjr at comcast.net>
To: "NFBnet Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 10:09 AM
Subject: [Blindtlk] Stages of blindness: was: Re: speaking of transit


Alan, your analysis is spot on.  Couldn't have done it better myself.  I
must confess, not for the first time on this list, that I was myself a rigid
purist at one time.  During those days, philosophy was all the world to me.
Anybody  whom so ever who disagree even in the tiniest iota with my perfect
philosophy was the trash of the blindness world and a drain and just not
worth it.  Thank God I've left off that now.  Question.  Did the Louisiana
Center for the blind make me that way?  Answer.  Not, On, Your, Life!!!  I
made me that way; yes, I made me that way!!!  How and why?  I made me that
way because I finally found something in which I could believe and people
who believed in me.  It wasn't their fault I became the way I did; rather,
it was my fault and nobody else's fault.  Might as well be frank about it.
I suspect I was impossible to put up with during  those times.  We often say
that the blind person goes  through three stages:
1.  The stage of fear and uncertainty.

2.  The stage of rebellion.
3.  The stage of confident independence.
I maintain that there is actually a fourth stage.  The stage where the blind
person has the confident independence but puts down any other blind person
who does not have it.  So, why not just call this part of the second stage?
The reason I believe this is a stage unto itself is because it often times
occurs after the rebellious stage and is often the most dangerous.  Why,
because this is the stage at which the blind person, if he/she is not
extremely careful, could and most likely will lose many blind former friends
due to the attitude which is assumed during this stage.  Thoughts?

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