Taking A Stand

Taking A Stand

The Braille Monitor

_July 1997

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PHOTO/CAPTION: John

Padilla

Taking a Stand at Rye

Playland

by John Padilla

From the Editor: John Padilla

is President of the National Federation of the Blind of Connecticut. In the

following anecdote he recalls the first time he stood up for the principle of

equality despite what it cost him.

Long before I ever became a Federationist,

I had the philosophy of the Federation deep in my heart. In retrospect I now

recognize that the first time I was called to live this philosophy was when

I was eight years old. My family traveled to Rye Beach Amusement Park for a

family outing. My older brother and I were too excited to eat the abundant picnic

lunch my mother had prepared. We both had one thought--the rides!

After we had pushed our picnic lunches

from one side of our plates to the other, my parents finally gave us the high

sign to enter the wild and wonderful amusement park. Although I could not see

the fabulous flashing lights that lined each ride, I could hear the gleeful

laughter mixed with high pitched screams from the children whirling around on

those legendary rides.

For weeks I had imagined myself on the

tilt-a-whirl, the ferris wheel, the roller-coaster. I pictured myself bumping

and whirling in continuous motion, visualizing each sharp twist and turn. I

had heard about these rides from my older brother, but now my dreams were about

to come true.

My parents had given me several dollars

in change before I entered the park. I had also saved the allowance money I

had earned specifically for this family outing by doing household chores. With

my hand securely in his, my brother led me to the first ride. As we waited in

line, I anticipated its twists and turns. Finally we were in the place to get

on the ride, but suddenly a voice shattered my anticipation.

A burly-sounding carnival operator asked

my brother if I was blind. He submissively answered, "Yes." The man

then shoved a stack of free ride tickets into his hand and told him that I was

allowed to ride free. Why? Because I was blind. This was a real dilemma for

my brother since there were far more free tickets than we could have bought

with the small amount of money we had.

Before he could answer, I told the man,

"No thanks. I'll pay for the ride just like everybody else." This

would-be philanthropist was demanding that we take these free tickets, but I

knew that, if I wanted to be just like everyone else, I could not accept the

free ride.

Today I hardly remember the rides that

day, but I fully remember the stand I took. After we had spent the money we

had for the rides, we left the amusement park. As a child I would have been

happy to be strapped into the rides until the park closed. But I knew one thing:

I did not want to ride for free just because I was blind.

At the age of eight I already knew that

being blind was respectable, and I still feel the same way at the age of fifty.

But my association with the National Federation of the Blind has reinforced

my stand. I have always known that what I did that day at Rye Beach was right,

but I did not recognize the reason why until I became an active member of the

NFB. We are first-class citizens entitled to the same life and liberty afforded

to all Americans. I took a stand when I was eight, but the NFB has made me see

why that stand was right.