By Patrick A. Barrett

(Editor’s Note:  Pat is a member of the NFB of Minnesota Board of Directors, and an active member of the Metro Chapter.)

Too many blind people today are served but not serving others.  Their immediate and extended families have not met the great mentors we have in the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) of Minnesota.  We NFB members are active in our communities, not captives in our homes from chains of charity.  However, changing what it means to be blind must mean bolstering self-esteem and being humble helping others.

First, let’s look at the self-esteem piece.  For me, I was a blind kid going to school in the 1960s and ‘70s.  I was very aware that I was the only one who “didn’t see very well.”  My parents usually didn’t use the word blind.  They had not met the NFB with its belief that it is respectable to be blind.  The bullies I dreaded each new school year reminded me painfully that it was not OK to be blind.  Being bused across town lumped in with the mentally challenged kids didn’t help either.

After high school, I made many long-lasting friendships.  Most friends have been blind.  I still wonder if I would have made friends sooner going to the Idaho State School for the Blind versus public school. 

I met my best friend, Trudy, who is also blind, in 1976.  She was going through the comprehensive rehabilitation for the blind program at the Idaho Commission for the Blind.  At that time, Idaho was modeled after Dr. Kenneth Jernigan’s great agency in Iowa.  Trudy was required to wear sleep shades during the entire 13 months of her training.  It was the Blindness:  Learning in New Dimensions (BLIND), Inc. of its day.  I later married my best friend.

I had only attended the Idaho Commission for the Blind during the summers of ’75 and ’76.  It was not until 1993 that I took comprehensive training through BLIND, Inc.  Blind mentors like Trudy and many other Federation family members have bolstered my self-esteem.  Sighted mentors like John and Barbara Cheadle, Dan Harmon, and Dick Davis have been instrumental, too.

Being active in the NFB of Minnesota family gives me strength and personal growth.  I am concerned, for their sake, when members are less active, or even don’t renew their membership in such a positive organization.  Contributing members help everyone.

Before I go on to the part about helping others, I must emphasize that self-esteem does not mean you feel successful while the world caters to you.  Dr. Kenneth Jernigan, the president of the NFB and an influential world leader, often quoted author Robert Heinlein; TANSTAAFL; There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.”

Serving others is fulfilling.  When 70% of the blind are either unemployed or underemployed, when sheltered workshops pay subminimum wages to the blind in the name of training, and when misguided social workers snatch children from the cradle and their blind loving parents, we have a lot left to do.  Doesn’t it take many dedicated and passionate blind and sighted people to do so much?

Minnesota native son Bob Dylan put it this way:

You may be a state trooper, you might be a young turk
You may be the head of some big TV network
You may be rich or poor, you may be blind or lame
You may be living in another country under another name.

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes
You're gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

Have you ever wanted to serve in your church, synagogue or mosque, but have been turned down politely yet firmly by leaders?  Trudy and I certainly have been.  In different wards (specific geographic areas of congregations) of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have been asked to fill volunteer positions (callings) alongside other church members.  Our church has no paid clergy.

Getting access to materials in braille or on tape, serving as greeters at our St. Paul temple open house, and even being taken seriously sometimes in our desire to serve and not be served have been struggles.  Through persistence, patience, prayer, and supportive peers in the NFB, we have served and blessed others’ lives.  We have grown as well.

Recently, our Lake Nokomis Ward spent part of a Saturday packaging meals with “Feed My Starving Children” in Eagan (a suburb of the Metro area).  Trudy measured one of the ingredients into the package for weighing.  I placed sealed bags on the table for counting.  Every box had to have exactly 36 packages.  One hundred one of us packed 78 boxes of lifesaving food to send to starving children in Africa and other parts of the world.  It was a joy to be equal partners in that effort!

A few years ago, our Metro Chapter and Blindness: Learning in New Dimensions (BLIND), Inc. pulled out the stops in our second annual Toys for Tots drive.  We held a fundraiser event in which members brought in toys.  George Wurtzel and students made beautiful wooden toys.  We raised $300 and provided 78 toys for needy kids.

A secondary goal was to appear on KARE 11 TV to present the check and toys.  It would have blown the lid off the misconception that the blind should always receive and not give.  Mother Nature blew in 18 inches of snow though, and cancelled our appearance.  We delivered the check and toys the following week when the roads were clear enough.  Even if the heater had gone out in the van, we still would have been warm.

Believing in ourselves and reaching out to serve others are two major ways to change what it means to be blind.  We need many to help in many ways.  Ask your state and local leaders how you can get services you need, and how to help others.  If we haven’t seen you in awhile, please come back.  We need each other!

Basketball is my favorite spectator sport.  Thanks to some initial training from my Federation family members Jennifer Dunnam and Steve Jacobson, I am now more proficient at surfing the web as a middle-aged, young-at-heart kid of 56.  Here is something from the webpage Quotemountain.com; which talks about self-worth and teamwork:

“One man (or woman) can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man (or woman) cannot make a team.”
-- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar