THE PRICE OF EQUALITY

THE PRICE OF EQUALITY

Braille MonitorMay-June 1986
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The Price of Equality
by Gary Wunder

(As Federationists know, Gary Wunder
is President of the National Federation
of the Blind of Missouri and a member of
the Board of Directors of the National
Federation of the Blind. This article
appeared in the February, 1986, Blind
Missourian, the newsletter of the
National Federation of the Blind of
Missouri.)
Today I heard a wonderful story I
thought the readers of the Blind Missourian might enjoy. It has to do with
asking for and getting equal treatment,
and then having to pay the price for it.
Jim Moynihan, a person usually very
timely in his work, found himself typing
a college term paper at three in the
morning, The paper was done about half
past five and was due at eight that same
morning. Someone asked Jim if he wanted
the paper proofread. Jim, reasoning
that he was a good typist, said he did
not, and at eight he promptly turned in
his hot-off-the-press creation.
Several weeks went by, and one day the
instructor complained to his class about
the sloppy way in which work was presented.
He said that someone in the
class paid so little attention to their
work that they turned in a paper with
one of its pages up side down. Jim
found the remark amusing and wondered
how anyone could be so foolish. The
instructor started around the room,
papers in hand. When he came to Jim he
didn't even break step. He hit Jim on
the shoulder with his paper and said,
"That was you, ace. You got an F.."
Jim says he thought of saying something
to the instructor but realized he
couldn't have it both ways. He was
equal or he was not. He had an opportunity
to go over his work and passed it
up. He said it was only fitting that he
take the blame. Hiding behind blindness
would have been easy to do. Arguing
that content was more important than
appearance might have rallied the most
hardhearted, but these are not the tactics
of people who believe we have both
rights and responsibilities. Such would
not be fitting for one who wishes to
move from second to first-class citizenship.
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