Okay. One last essay from that “What I hope for” prompt I assigned late last year. This one comes from Elaine Fishman. Look up the word “Delightful” in the dictionary, and you should find a photo of Elaine’s tiny face there. She and her husband Guy, a well-known Chicago architect, raised their four children in Chicago’s north suburbs. When Guy died in 2017, Elaine was nearly 80 years old. She was ready to quit driving, her children were grown, and it didn’t take long to decide to leave the suburbs, downsize and find a small place in downtown Chicago.
Elaine fills her days now enjoying Millennium Park, visiting nearby museums, catching free music concerts, and, most importantly, sharing her stories each week with our “Me, Myself and I” memoir-writing class at the Chicago Cultural Center.
Her “What I Hope For” essay began with good wishes for mankind, hopes that the homeless will find shelter, the hungry will get fed and so on. “Tomorrow will bring a better day,” she wrote. “It is important to live with hope and continue in the ever lasting pursuit of joy for ourselves.”
From there, her essay got more personal. “In January my children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews are gathering all together,” she wrote. “They will be coming from Maine, New York, California and the Midwest.” And here’s the glorious ending, in Elaine’s exact words:
I hope that every one will catch their flight. I hope the rooms are not too shabby, I hope the food is okay, I hope that there is good beer and wine, I hope everyone stays healthy. And most of all, I hope that everyone will have a good time. I know I will!
And who knows? Maybe this trip will help staunch my becoming a crabby hopeless old lady.
We get a zillion channels with a cable package that is included with our condominium assessment. Quantity trumps quality, though, and I too often find myself channel surfing with Bruce Springsteen’s “Fifty seven channels and nothin’s on” playing in my head.
There’s good stuff on, I’m sure. I just don’t have the patience to research it in advance. But sometimes, I get lucky.
Stream it. Rent it. Watch it.
Last night was a lucky night. I happened onto a documentary called “The Most Dangerous Man in America,” screened in timely fashion as the movie “The Post” is released. “Dangerous” (for shorthand) tells the story of Daniel Ellsberg—a one-time U.S. Marine who went to work in the military/intelligence community, originally supported the Vietnam war, then changed his mind as he learned that our presidents, our military, and pretty much our entire government was lying to us. And that those in power knew years before the war ended that it was unwinnable.
It’s not a jaunty watch, but man, it’s worth the time, especially in these times. We have a president who talks about having bigger buttons, and we have people hoping that Oprah Winfrey will run for president on the merits of a speech to an entertainment awards program audience. (And no, I don’t think that she should run and yes, I think that whether it’s her or Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson talking about running it’s a bad, bad thing that speaks to how low we’ve sunk. We can’t careen from one inexperienced billionaire celebrity to another. But I digress.)
I found “Dangerous” uplifting in a both straight ahead and indirect way. First, it’s about a man—and a lot of other people—who risked everything simply to do the right thing. That kind of idea ages well.
Second, it reminded me how crazy screwed up things were up back then. You’re probably thinking, “Not as screwed up as now.” I had thought the same thing. But hearing the tapes of Richard Nixon suggesting the possibility of using nuclear weapons in Vietnam and browbeating Henry Kissinger to “think big” was absolutely chilling. As are his thoughts about taking out the dike system in North Viet Nam—“How many would that kill, 200,000 maybe?” he wonders aloud.
All this with the full knowledge that he, LBJ, JFK and Ike had told bald faced lies about the reasons for, the conduct of, and the progress (or lack thereof) in fighting the war. I knew this already from following it in real time (I grew up in a pretty political household), but it’s easy to forget. The war was a slow motion bi-partisan crime against humanity.
Oh, and there was also an all out war on the press. Sound familiar?
There’s a whole lot of good history in this thing, and I found it more compelling (though it’s a different animal) than the PBS Vietnam series. There are lots of “Oh yeah, I remember” moments: Like the fact that Ellsberg had to line up a Xerox machine and that it took weeks—months—to copy the thousands of pages to send to various newspapers and legislators.
Yesterday afternoon, my cousin Linda emailed her wishes for a Merry Serbian Orthodox Christmas. And she offered this advice: Calm down, this too will pass.
I hope so. But not without us finding the kind of courage that Ellsberg and company did.
Wednesday’s guest post by Ali Krage explained how she and her boyfriend make their way to their favorite movie theater, now she’s back to tell you how they liked the show!
by Alicia Krage
Alicia (left) and Joe (right)
We’d arrived very early at the theater, so we had time to sit in our seats, talk for a while and munch on our popcorn. It was about ten minutes before showtime when Joe decided we didn’t have enough popcorn to make it through the movie. He insisted we needed a refill.
I’d never done that on my own before, and neither had Joe.
The two of us spent a good five minutes bantering back and forth about how to make this happen, who was going to go get the refill, did either of us remember exactly where the concession stand was, should we go together, or does one of us need to stay back to save our seats.
And then, all of a sudden, I got this idea. I still had the number we called from the bus on our way there. How about we call them? By then the previews (not movie previews, but the weird entertainment stuff they have beforehand) had already started. Would anyone be around to answer? Even if they did, these previews are loud, would they even hear us over the phone? If they answer, what should we ask for? How could they help us? Who should make the phone call? Me? Or Joe? And do we really, really need a refill?
What can I say? My boyfriend is very persistent. So I called the theater and explained what seats we were in. “We’re both blind,” I explained. “And we need assistance.”
The voice on the phone was the same friendly voice I heard when I called earlier from the bus on our way to the theater. And you know what? It worked! Within a few minutes someone was there and more than happy to refill our popcorn for us.
Now, let’s get to the movie. I can confidently say now it is one of my all-time favorites, but don’t worry: there are no spoilers.
In case you didn’t know, though, this movie is based on a novel called Wonder. It was written by R.J. Palacio and tells the story of August Polman, a boy who was born with facial differences. Augie had been homeschooled up until fifth grade, so in the movie he was starting public school for the first time.
The audio description Joe and I listened to in our headsets during the movie was amazing — they even described what Augie’s face looks like. While watching the movie I felt very fortunate that I was never bullied in school for being blind. But Wonder is not just about looks. It’s an inspirational film about accepting who you are, and accepting others, too. Nobody is perfect, and we need to see beneath the surface.
I was so moved by the movie that I was actually crying when the employee came to escort us out when it was over. Joe took the employee’s arm, I took Joe’s hand, and off we went.
As the three of us exited the theater side-by-side-by-side, the employee asked, “Did you enjoy the movie?” The humor in his voice told me he’d noticed I was crying. I smiled and wiped my eyes. “I did!” I said, a little embarrassed by my tears. “It was my second time seeing it. Have you seen it?”
By then I was back to my enthusiastic self — although I’m sure my face didn’t look very enthusiastic. He said he hadn’t seen it yet, and I recommended it to him. I love chatting with people as they’re guiding me (or both of us, in this case). I don’t like to walk in silence.
While Joe and I waited for our bus home, he kept talking about how much he loved the movie, but of course he also took up right where the theater employee had left off, teasing me about crying during the film. All in all, though? It was a wonderful experience!
This post was originally published on the Easterseals National blog, where you can find these other great posts from Alicia:
I met today’s guest blogger Ali Krage at a “low-vision conference” in 2004. “I’m blind like you and I can read Braille and I go to the same school my twin sister goes to, but she can see, can you give me your email address? We can be pen pals!” Who could refuse an invitation like that? Ali was only 11 years old back then. She’s in college now and helps me out by writing guest posts on the blog I moderate for Easterseals National Headquarters. This one was published on the Easterseals blog earlier today, it’s about the challenges and joys Ali experiences going to the movies with her boyfriend…when neither of them can see.
Joe and Ali.
by Alicia Krage
When it comes to my blindness, one of the most common questions I get asked is, “How do you watch movies?” This is typically referring to how I go see movies at a movie theater.
Movie theaters provide audio description, which describes the movie when there is no dialogue. The description comes through a headset, so it’s not like the entire movie theater is hearing it.
A lot of movie theaters I’ve gone to over the years have given me the device for people who are deaf — that device enhances the sound and provides closed-captioning. The theater my boyfriend and I go to in our college town here in Illinois is great, though. They have never made this mistake. So ever since Joe and I started going to AMC Market Square 10 in DeKalb, I’ve enjoyed going to movies.
When I go to movies, I usually ask my mom for recommendations — she goes to movies way more than me. This time, though, I didn’t need a recommendation. I went and saw a movie I’d already seen!
My family and I went to see Wonder the day after Thanksgiving, and I loved it so much that I immediately texted my boyfriend when I got out of the theater.
I just saw the most amazing movie.
All iPhones come with an app called VoiceOver — the embedded voice synthesizer says each word I type out loud when I press space, so I can hear any errors as I’m typing. I explained the movie to him in short detail before adding three words.
Next movie date?
Joe’s enthusiastic reply came one minute later.
Sounds perfect!
Finals week was approaching. It was difficult to find time between our busy schedules, but one Saturday we took the bus over to the movie theater. One of us always calls from the bus to give them the estimated time we should be arriving and to inform them we’re both blind. I tell them what movie we’ll be seeing and inform them we’ll need assistance retrieving our descriptive audio devices for that movie as well as getting popcorn and whatever else we want at the concession stand. My phone call is always met with a very friendly, “No problem.” We are always met by someone waiting for us when we enter. Every single time.
And so it went on the Saturday we arrived to see Wonder. The manager said hello to us in that tone of voice where you know without them having to say it that they recognize you. We don’t go to the movies all that often, but it seems we are two familiar faces anyway. I could tell how enthusiastic Joe was about seeing this movie by the excitement in his voice at the ticket booth when he said, “Two tickets for the movie Wonder.”
The manager led us over to the concession stand and told us he’d go test the devices while we ordered. I kindly replied, “Please make sure it’s the device for the blind, not the audio enhancement devices.” I always say this a few times, just to make sure I’m getting what I need. The manager assured me he would, and we stayed at the concession stand to order what we wanted. The employee working the concession stand helped with our drinks and put the butter on our popcorn for us. (See? They really go above and beyond here!) When the manager returned, we had another conversation.
Me, just to clarify: These are the descriptive audio devices, right? It’ll describe the movie?
Manager, sounding confident: Yes.
Joe, as per usual: And it’s already on?
Manager, again confidently: Yes!
We know exactly what questions to ask. Teamwork! The manager led us to our seats in the theater, and going along with the script, I asked, “Can someone please escort us out when the movie is done?” We were satisfied once again when we received the reassuring answer, “Yes.”
Stay tuned for Part Two, when Alicia and Joe need a popcorn refill and Alicia’s resourcefulness saves the day. Bonus: Alicia gives us a review of the movie Wonder from her point of view.
Click on the video to take a walk with Beth from Whitney’s point of view. There’s a lot of motion, so be careful if you’re prone to seasickness. I hope you’ll read the post, too–think of it as the director’s notes:)
Beth’s on her fourth Seeing Eye dog now, and I’ve marveled at and, really, admired each one of these incredible animals: in order, Dora, Hanni, Harper, and now Whitney.
Not that they’re perfect. Not by a long shot. They’ve each had their particular weaknesses and strengths. Whitney, for example, will stealthily guide Beth in a way that allows Whitney to catch a whiff of the fire hydrant or traffic light pole or an oncoming dog as it passes, all without slowing down or giving Beth so much as a twitch. (I bust Whitney every time we’re walking together and she forgets about the guy who can see. )
The dogs can get confused, and they make mistakes. People see the mistakes sometimes and my protective self is afraid they think less of these dogs than they should. Because, on the whole, the dogs are remarkable.
I’ve wished everyone could see Beth’s dog doing scads of tricky, nuanced things every single day. Like getting in just the right position to make it easy for Beth to put the harness on every time they get ready to go out. Or weaving through crowded sidewalks. Like finding elevator button panels. Like slowing down ever so gently when there’s a heave in the pavement to alert Beth that something irregular is coming up. Slowing down for ice. And on and on.
They’re trained to go right up to every curb at each street crossing and wait for a command from their partner—straight, left, or right. Sometimes, making a right or left means actually backtracking to get around obstacles or to stay on the sidewalk. They pivot on a dime to change direction and lead their partner with them.
When it’s time to cross the street, that call is up to the human. Dogs don’t read the stoplights—they trust that their partner will listen until certain that traffic is moving in their direction of travel. This is a skill people with visual impairments learn formally in orientation and mobility training, using a white cane. In fact, at the Seeing Eye, for example, one isn’t eligible to be matched with a dog without having completed O&M training.
But—as those of you who know the story of Harper know—the dogs are trained to keep an eye out and to disobey their partner if the team is in harm’s way. If, for example, the human just makes a bad call about crossing, the sidewalk has been ripped up for construction, or, as in Harper’s case, a car simply doesn’t stop when it should. It’s called intelligent disobedience, and it’s a pretty difficult thing to ask the dogs to do, when you think about it.
Anyway, about a year and a half ago, our friend John showed me his GoPro Hero camera. It’s a cool little thing that people mount on their heads when they do things like hang-glide, ride a motorcycle, whatever. They’re often mounted on drones, too. They make for some cool video.
It occurred to me that I might be able to mount the Hero on our hero dog to get a dog’s eye view of what it’s like to work with Beth. Sure enough, Hero sells a harness for exactly that purpose.
Beth and I took a couple walks with the camera mounted, but Whitney really didn’t like wearing it. And, there was no way to stabilize the camera—it rocked back and forth as Whitney walked. (John told me there are drones that can be programmed to follow at a set distance, and boy did I want to rationalize buying one, but it was a bridge too far.)
Well, the video we shot back in 2016 has just been sitting on my laptop, and when I bumped into it during a file purge, I popped it open.
And it was a lot better than I remembered.
So, I did some editing and added some explanatory captions. It covers a typical walk Beth and Whitney take around our neighborhood. Fair warning—it’s 14 minutes. I intended to shorten it more, but my intention is to give an idea of how Whitney and Beth work, and that often requires waiting when sighted people wouldn’t have to. So it’s true to that goal.
Otherwise, I hope you’ll give it—or some part of it—a watch. And I hope it gives you some idea of why I love and admire my two gals so much.
