To Table of Contents of sight with run-of-themill prejudice , ordinary misunderstandings , projections , and preconceptions . Why wouldn ' t its common sense be like the trial court judge ' s ? I didn ' t have a victim or a star , I just had a blind guy who wanted to join a health club . Yet I thought there must be something in my own operational philosophy : " Don ' t over think !" And there was . Besides not seeing , how different was this blind applicant than any other applicant , each of whom had a variety of health club shortcomings . Blindness didn ' t mean he couldn ' t hear , dress himself , be educated , get to and from the club , think and look out for himself . Ability to think was the key .
If a sighted applicant noted on his / her application that he or she could not swim , should membership routinely be denied ? Of course not . The application evaluator should presume the applicant was knowledgeable of those limitations and smart enough to not dive into the pool . Why , then , I asked , should it be presumed that a person who notes blindness on his application is ignorant of his experience , unaware of the role blindness plays in his life , will not be smart enough to seek or accept orientation to the facility and , instead , will barge onto the tennis court or free weightlifting floor ? There was no justification to deny membership based on existing complaint , prior experience , known risk , or the law , and there was no reason to conclude that a blind person was less likely than a sighted person to think or to value his safety and the safety of others . Common sense made no case to so presume . I then borrowed some of the beatitudes that have circulated for years to belittle the baseless presumption :
BLESSED ARE THEY who refrain from shouting when they speak to me ; BLESSED ARE THEY who talk directly to me and not to someone else ; BLESSED ARE THEY who say who they are when entering a room and say hello to me ; BLESSED ARE THEY who do not hesitate to say " SEE " when talking to me ; BLESSED ARE THEY who laugh with me when I tell a joke related to blindness ; BLESSED ARE THEY who wait for me to extend my hand before shaking it ; BLESSED ARE THEY who offer me their arm so they can serve as my guide , instead of grabbing , pulling , or shoving me ; BLESSED ARE THEY who place my hand on an object such as the back of a chair when telling me where it is , so I can seat myself ; BLESSED ARE THEY who read me the menu and its prices and allow me to order my own meal ; BLESSED ARE THEY who do not distract my guide dog from being my active eyes ; BLESSED ARE THEY who treat me like a human being , for I am a human .
As I have said in a speech of my own to blind and other disabled listeners : There are many more beatitudes , and there is much more literature available today than thirty or forty years ago that openly tells your story , my story , our story with everburgeoning access to and communication of these stories , more attention will be paid to us , to what we do and can do . Barriers to full emersion into the social , political , and working parts of this society will weaken and fall , unless we forget to keep leaning on and pushing them . Edward Everett Hale said : " I am only one , but still I am one . I cannot do everything , but still I can do something . I will not refuse to do the something I can do ."
We , the blind and going blind , must remember that while we develop and implement strategies and set examples with our work and participation in social activities , with our deportment , speech making , demonstrating , lobbying , or our litigation , we always are learning , we always are teaching , and we always must be thinking .
The court of appeals reversed and ruled for thinking .