Hi, I totally agree with much that you're saying. That's why i don't educate or inform people anymore, it's simply not worth the bother. People say that when people are prejudiced or ask stupid questions or are plain downright rude, it's because they aren't educated enough, but i've learned when i had a guide dog and people got angry at me for how i used the dog, that it didn't matter whatever i told them, they had their opinions set in stone, they simply didn't want to understand or learn or change their way of thinking. That's why in the last years of having a guide dog, i never did any information, i just got on with living my life and did what i did and that may be the reason why the authorities took my dog away, but that is another story and another pity party.:-) /Krister
30 nov 2009 kl. 22.17 skrev Mark BurningHawk Baxter: > I love conversations like that! It's a rare treat for me when > someone comes up and says, basically, "You're different from me and > that fascinates me, and I want to learn." Usually what I get is > "You're different from me and that makes me afraid, so I'm going to > control what I fear so that it can't hurt me." > > Growing up, I was taught that "It's your task to educate the sighted > about the blind." In adult life, I realized that not only was this a > pointless and thankless task, but it was a very heavy cross to bear, > one that I had not asked for. Now, when someone is courageous enough > to confront me as different and therefore stimulating, I feel > privileged to talk to them; the rest of the people I don't bother > trying to educate, because all the words in the world will not > convince a scared or superstitious or xenophobic person to change > their thinking patterns. Spent a half an hour with such an individual > explaining how blind people use a computer or a dog, and they'll still > shriek in panic and grab at you when stairs are present, or start > talking to people around you about what you need, etc. Being cute and > female never hurts, either. :) > > > Mark BurningHawk Baxter > > Skype and Twitter: BurningHawk1969 > MSN: burninghawk1...@hotmail.com > My home page: > http://MarkBurningHawk.net/ > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en.
