Reid My Mind

TR:
What’s good family.

Today’s sort of a first for Reid My Mind Radio.
We’re going to talk about some feedback from the last episode Fears of A Blind Nomad.
Which will include a bit of food talk. Get it!
Talk about Feedback… food talk!
Ok, I like making connections.
[Audio: All You Can Eat, The Fat Boys]
[Audio: RMMRadio Theme]

TR:
I think most people want feedback on things they produce. If you write a book, you want to know whether or not readers enjoyed the story, found the information useful or gained some insight into something they never knew about. What you wouldn’t want is a barrage of comments that are meant to be hurtful or just straight criticism as opposed to constructive critiques.

I don’t usually get too many comments on episodes. There are often a few Likes on Sound Cloud and Facebook and Twitter, but not much more.

I personally thought Fears of A Blind Nomad touched on a lot of issues and would stir up some sort of an emotion in the listeners. I especially thought those adjusting to blindness would have things to say. I’m not sure why but that’s not often the case. I sometimes hope that a topic would stir up some conversation around these issues that those adjusting to blindness have to grapple with. Then again, I’m sure people aren’t that comfortable having such conversations in public.

Fortunately, as a member of the Pennsylvania Council of the Blind which is a peer network of people impacted by vision loss, I asked for some direct feedback.

Some reacted to the ideas, others reacted to Jim and some went beyond.

One commenter wrote:
> I wouldn’t want a newly blinded person to think that they, in six months have to accomplish the amazing stuff that he accomplished. Rather, I would hope that they would take > away that anything they dream of, anything they want to do is possible, despite their perceived limitations.

I agree! In fact, there are certain things that make Jim equipped for living that nomad lifestyle.

Learning a new environment is more challenging to some than others.

Everyone isn’t a trail blazer. Some people do great following a path, a set of instructions while others shine in carving out a way.

Adapting to the local culture is a must. many of us are used to a certain lifestyle that we expect everywhere we go.
Food, for example, can be a challenge. For some!

JP:
The two of us had breakfast. It was $1.25 for both of us.

TR in conversation with JP:
What kind of breakfast would $1.25 get for two… what would that be?

JP:
Well it’s a big cup of they call it Horchata tea, which is a herbal tea they make down here. They serve it in a large beer mug. He had, I don’t know, some sort of a bread that they fry with something in it. I had a couple of empanadas. You know it’s a substantial breakfast. It’s not starvation food.

TR in conversation with JP:
Yeah, yeah!

JP:
It was what he wanted.
The other day I bought him breakfast and it was a full meal. I mean it was rice and soup and meat and everything else and it was $1.25.

TR in conversation with JP:
In the states, people are wondering if you’re having eggs and home fries or omelets or something like that! (laughing)

JP:
The other day I was walking down the street and … I’ll eat anything by the way, I don’t care what it is. They put it in front of me I’ll eat it. I don’t care. So I’m walking down the street and they got something that smells really good on the grill.
It was a buck so I gave her a buck for it. It smelled really good!

It was cow’s stomach.

TR in conversation with JP:
Oh wow!

JP:
With Barbecue sauce!

TR in conversation with JP:

Anything with barbecue sauce is probably good! (Laughing)

JP:
(Laughing ) It wasn’t!

The other thing is they serve guinea pig down here.

TR in conversation with JP:
Oh wow!

JP:
The way the serve it is… they take the fur off it. They cut it down the middle, remove its guts and then they shove a stick up its ass and they throw it on a barbecue grill. It has head and nails and teeth…

TR in conversation with JP:
Oh wow!

JP:
…and they throw it on the barbecue and they cook it that way, they grill it. And again it smells really good.

TR in conversation with JP:
(Laughing)

JP:
I had this thing three different ways and I still don’t like it. It’s like eating a rat.

TR in conversation with JP:
Uh! Don’t tell me you tried that too?

JP:
Of course I tried it… I told you I’ll eat anything, I don’t care. If they serve it here I’ll eat it.

TR:
Honestly, I was sort of surprised to hear that at least one person felt the piece has a whiff of super Crip. I was upset. Not at the commenter but the idea that I may have put
forward that sort of imagery.

That term refers to one of two kinds of stories in the mainstream media when it comes to people with disabilities;
the poor helpless person who can’t survive without the able bodied person in their life
The over achieving;
– Athlete with a disability
– The musical prodigy
These are just two examples. The problem with the super Crip is not that these individuals seek to accomplish these things, it’s promoted as an impossible standard others with disabilities should strive towards. Living a “normal” life as in going to work, raising a family never seems to be enough.

I don’t look at Jim as a super Crip at all. We all have unique talents and qualities that make us perfectly equipped for something. It’s our job to figure that out.

Jim never set out to be this nomad. He chose the lifestyle partially because of a lack of options.

Traveling may not be your thing. Maybe because of real or perceived fears or lack of desire.
Some find it uncomfortable due to physical limitations.

One commenter said:
> the fear of not knowing what was ahead or how I would manage would keep me pretty much on a short chain, the fear of it I guess. I will never be a world traveler, I do not have the desire to do that, but it made me look differently about things I would like to do but have not done yet.

She went on to explain how she left her comfort zone to begin online dating. I can remember a time when that was thought to be a very risky thing to do.

Challenging our comfort zones, I think that really is what Jim is encouraging. And at least one commenter summed it by writing:
> Coming to terms with vision loss can be a tough road to travel. Stories like Jim’s challenge us to continue the journey with renewed determination.

What’s wrong with challenging ourselves?

We can’t all be nomads.
Although one gentlemen poses that as people who are blind, to some extent we may already live the life of a nomad.

“Like the nomad” he wrote;
> who enters a strange land with less than perfect knowledge of the terrain and topography
we as people with vision loss have to ask similar questions and use our skills to ascertain information.

We share the need to orient ourselves both in and outdoors.

We can share access issues;
– In a foreign land the nomad if unfamiliar with the language, can’t really do much with local printed information.
– Interpreting gestures or customs presents a challenge, not because of sight but rather unfamiliarity.

For some, a real need to ask for assistance would deter them, but as the comments’ author wrote::
> Such a position could sadden and inhibit the nomad – as I think it saddens and inhibits so many persons with vision loss – but it does not need to do so…

He proposes that asking for assistance can become a way of making connections and accepting help becomes a way of starting relationships.

For Jim, forming these relationships give him the chance to offer his help and the community while giving him purpose.

As one commenter wrote;
> a blind person’s world can be small unless that person is blessed with a personality to want to expand…

How we choose to interact with people like how we interpret Jim’s story is very much based on individual perspective. Our life experiences, identity and other factors really come into play in how we process what we hear.

Not everyone has the ability to interact with strangers or make friends with ease.

If we work with the idea that being blind already has an element of being a nomad, then I think we can agree that adventures can be found in our neighborhoods or in any aspect of our lives that we choose.

It’s about challenging ourselves.

For one gentlemen who is 70 and has been blind for 20 years now; he finds adventures by traveling to unfamiliar restaurants alone. He wrote:
> Every walk is an opportunity to talk to someone new and share a conversation with a young girl, a guy from Africa or an old lady from Poland. I truly believe a blind person must strive to create the world they want to live in.

Just like a nomad!

Unlike the nomad, there’s no need to search for this podcast;
Subscribe on any podcast platform…Apple, Google Play, Stitcher, Tune In Radio
Follow the podcast on Twitter @reidmymindradio
I’m at tsreid on Twitter

I told you we’re out here!

[Audio: RMMRadio Outro]
Peace

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