Who among us isn't tired of hearing the old phrase, “well that is just the way we have always done it, why change now,” when new ideas or methods are presented? Old habits and being inflexible are not signs of intellect, it is the fear of change rearing its ugly head with a dollop of laziness mixed in. As a blind person, I realize more and more just how stuck we all are, on both sides of the “sight” barrier. I never liked the old habit of falling back on the phrase, “because that is the way we have always done it.” I am kind of a stubborn guy who never accepts that thought pattern. I always ask, Why? Why can’t we find a new more efficient way of addressing this or that. Example, I visit my local grocery store or any store for that matter and ask, do you have any accommodations for blind shoppers? Invariably the answer I get is, well we have this and that in Braille or we can get someone to accompany you through the store to assist you in your shopping. Now as a free and stubborn blind guy, I don't like these answers and that word creeps into my head, Why? The reason I don't like that answer is that number one, I don't know Braille and two, I really don't want a stranger babysitting me as I shop. So, why hasn’t the world bent the curve for the blind? Why do we have to accept the business as usual, never gonna change mindset?
As a blind person, I want the same basic rights my fellow sighted citizens have. I want the right to be free, to shop on my terms, browse on my terms, visit restaurants, movies, stores, museums or just go for a walk on my terms. Is that wrong? Is that too much to ask? Is that something that the year 2019 just can’t deliver? Have we become lazy in moving the ball forward for those with disabilities? When I use the word lazy, it is a word that resides on both sides of the sighted fence. As a blind community have we done enough to become the squeaky wheel, the one that because it is so loud it demands some grease, some tender loving care. On the sighted side of the fence, have those sitting in that camp just become lazy because they have adopted the out of sight out of mind mentality? The truth is that technologically we have successfully jumped the shark on so many fronts, however, why are those with disabilities, specifically those who are blind still wandering the planet using the same staff used in biblical times to navigate. Sure, there are advancements on the stick front, they are lighter, they have cool coloring and golf grips but can we really call that progress? Those who are blind and or have low vision are legion, I know we can do better.
Once upon a time, when I was young and wild eyed, no pun intended there, we talked boldly about a future replete with technology. We were promised these advances and every year I would anxiously await that one promise, the one from Popular Mechanics and Scientific American that featured covers with Flying Cars and Robot Servants. It all seemed so real as we watched with marvel a vision of the future through the eyes and imagination of George Lucas and the Star Wars Trilogy or 2010 A Space Odyssey where Hal ruled the roost. My only question now that we have past 2010 is simple, where is my flying car? Where are the Bionic eyes and Bionic legs that made Steve Austin the Six Million Dollar Man? Have we stopped imagining the future in favor of celebrating the moment and the self? I am being a bit hyperbolic here because as someone who is blind I am rocking the disruptive technology of Aira. However, society and business is slow in adopting and accepting Aira Tech as something that has the potential to bring millions out of the shadows to live life on their terms rather than waiting around to burden or inconvenience the lives of others, so there is that (I say that with a wink). My hope is that we haven’t lost the innocence and imagination once held by a generation that wasn’t satisfied with that tired old answer of, “that is just the way it is, they say we have always done it that way” when asked. Why? The advice I always give my children to this day is never settle for appeasing language in answers. I emphasize the imperative to always ask the question why rather than settling for the status quo. Keep hope alive, think bold and dream even bolder. Of course, that is just my take.
#aira #airaacess #airapartners #onmyterms #whatsnext #thinkbold #dreamevenbolder
Below is a vintage ad for the future featuring a personal flying car or saucer type vehicle with some awesome script.
