[nfbwatlk] Frustrations of a Blind Street Walker!

Fri Jun 15 09:42:58 CDT 2007

Hey, Ben, I think that you are absolutely right.  The WPA is alive and well in Seattle.  The other day, I was walking up the hill, and my face ran into a ladder.  It was not possible for a cane to pick it up unless I had been swinging my cane three feet to my left.  The guy on the ladder said he was sorry from way up over my head.  I couldn't help but think about if I had knocked over the ladder with the guy maybe twenty feet in the air.  However, it is reassuring to know that technology has given 
us automatic revolving doors that can injured the sighted along with the blind.  In the Jackson Federal Building, we now have elevators that tell us that we are going up or down, but do not tell us the floor.  It is all in the name of progress.
-----Original Message-----
From: nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org]On
Behalf Of Prows, Bennett (HHS/OCR)
Sent: Friday, June 15, 2007 7:31 AM
To: NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] Frustrations of a Blind Street Walker!

Albert,

See, that's why I write to this list.  Perspective is important.  And,
believe me, I almost wish the problem was a lack of sidewalks.  My
neighborhood had no sidewalks for many years, and we walked along side
irrigation ditches with no problems, that is, ..., until I was running
for one of those buses *we* have, and fell into the damn thing.  (grin.)

Hey, send me your contact info.

Thanks.

/s/

Bennett Prows, J.D.
Health Information Privacy Program
Office for Civil Rights
Seattle, Washington
(206) 615-2621
E-mail:  Bennett.Prows at hhs.gov
-----Original Message-----
From: nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf Of Albert Sanchez
Sent: Friday, June 15, 2007 7:26 AM
To: NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] Frustrations of a Blind Street Walker!

Hi Ben
I certainly understand your frustration, but, think of this; Gerrie and
I 
have moved into a community of nearly 100,000 people, with very few 
sidewalks at all and only three bus lines that stop running by 7:00PM.
At 
least you have sidewalks and busses that run on a schedule, see ya in 
Atlanta, A.S.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Prows, Bennett (HHS/OCR)" <Bennett.Prows at HHS.GOV>
To: "NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List" <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, June 15, 2007 10:08 AM
Subject: [nfbwatlk] Frustrations of a Blind Street Walker!

Ok, now that the title of this rant has gotten your attention, I will
settle down and say what I think.  I take the bus to downtown Seattle
every day.  Many blind and also visually dependent people do.  It's
advertised as the way of the future.  Take public transit, and leave the
stress behind.

Well, they didn't count on the construction industry, the city
officials, (both fathers and mothers), and just business in general.  As
summer approaches, I am writing only to vent my frustrations about
downtown inaccessibility to pedestrians.

I am not necessarily a "route traveler".  I do however get off the bus,
and have to go a specific direction to get to my office.  (North.)

 It seems that the sidewalks on most streets is blocked on random days,
during random hours, and for no particular reason except that someone is
contemplating digging a hole, or has dug a hole and left it for another
day, or something else.  So, on one day, I travel along one street
(trying to stay on the sidewalk), and I find some newly placed
construction tape blocking my path in the middle of the block.  It's
alright to go half a block, but then I'm apparently not supposed  to go
further, unless, ..., using my travel skills, I go into the street
staying close to the curb, (provided there isn't a cone or parked car in
the way), and continue on my way.  I don't want to have to back track,
two or three times during a trip from my bus stop to my office, five
blocks away, just because of some construction obstruction.

On another day, I'm walking happily along, on a street that I easily
traveled the day before, thinking about what I think about most, ...,
nothing, when, I cross the street, and ... boing!...    As I run into
the new tape, which my cane has slid under, I wonder whether there are
hidden cameras somewhere with gleeful construction folks viewing my
process, saying, "hey, let's watch the blind guy bounce off the tape."

I must add here, that the terrain I *can* travel in also periodically is
obstructed by sandwich signs, or those folding advertisements for the
"specials of the day" for a restaurant.  You'd think that the
enterprising businessperson would at least put a Braille translation on
the sign so that as I stop to pick up the sign I have knocked over with
or with out my cane, (meaning maybe with my leg), I could read it.
(that is, I could read it before I pinch my finder in the hinges of the
heavy folding obstruction.

Anyway, it was raining this morning, I found some new blocked sidewalks,
and have to figure out another way to get from my bus stop to the
office, and was wet and frustrated, so thought I'd write this to my
friends on this list.  Have a *great* day, and remember, its Friday!!!
Oh, by the way, happy fathers' day to the dads, and ..., the city
*fathers* too!

/s/

Bennett Prows

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