[gui-talk] A blind vendor's input on accessible money

[Doug Lee]

Ok, I finally got the chance to do what I always thought would make
the most sense with this money issue:  Ask a blind vendor for an
opinion, without first presenting any bias.  Here is my best
recollection of the conversation.

Me:  I have a question for you, if you have the time.

Vendor:  I'll see if I got an answer.

Me:  What is your opinion on this issue of changing the currency?

Vendor:  (pause) You really wanna know what I think?

me:  Yes.

Vendor:  (pause, perhaps for effect) I think I'd rather have a car I
can drive!

Me: (healthy burst of laughter)

We continued to discuss the issue a bit after that, amid the passing
of other customers through his line.  I genuinely expected him to go
on to at least defend the notion that changing the money would be
helpful to him, but to my surprise, he did the opposite, stating that
he had gotten along just fine with things as they are now.  I promise
you, until after this revelation, I was careful not to bias his
answers with any indication of my own opinion.  He has known me for
several months, but just from casual contact as I have passed through
his cafeteria while on this Texas contract from time to time.  I do
not believe he was aware of my views at all and either did not know or
did not remember my affiliation with the NFB.  I don't know if he is
affiliated with any group to this day.

After he clearly stated his thoughts, I put forth my view that it
would have been nice to consider this currency change as part of
something else, but not as a change unto itself.  He heartily agreed.

I then questioned his method of handling money identification.  In
summary, he has a talking money identifier which seems accurate but,
in my opinion, rather slow; and he uses it, he says, at random to
avoid singling anyone out, except that of course he also uses it when
he has reason to doubt what he is given.  To again quote him as near
as I can remember, he said at one point, "If you don't sound like you
know what you're givin me, I'm gonna check it out."  (That is not an
exact quote, but I think it is pretty close.)

My point in presenting this dialog is this:  It is surely a blind
vendor, who processes money from strangers every day and must
necessarily have means of avoiding misidentification, dishonest
customers, etc., who should have a say in this matter.  One vendor is
hardly a statistically valid sample to be sure, but it is the only
"sample" I could get myself.

-- 
Doug Lee                 dgl at dlee.org        
SSB + BART Group         doug.lee at ssbbartgroup.com   http://www.ssbbartgroup.com
Freedom is not the ability to have what we want.  Freedom is merely the
ability to seek it.  To be free defines what we can do, not what we can get.
(03/28/05)