Price of Equality

Price of Equality

Future Reflections Winter 1987, Vol. 6 No. 1
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THE PRICE OF EQUALITY
by Gary Wunder
(Editor's Note: This as reprinted
from the Blind Misson-H^n, a publication
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 halfpastfive
and was due at eight that same
morning. Someone asked Jim if he wanted
the paper proof-read. 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 it's 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 some-
tiling 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
hard-hearted, but these are not tactics
cf people who believe we have both
rights and responsibilities. Such would
not be fitting far one who wishes to
move from second to first class
citizenship.
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