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Northrop Grumman
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Job Opportunities for
Disabled American Veterans
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Living on the Edge
Throughout this country there are
hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of us who live on the edge of being called
disabled. Living and surviving on the edge is a real challenge in the fullest sense
of that word.
How do I describe it?
It is like walking on the edge of a cliff on a dark night. It is a cliff with crumbly
edges and loose rocks that might at any moment collapse and send you plummeting to what
ever unseen hazards lie at its base.
Just traveling down the edge of this challenge safely requires great attention to detail,
caution, and preparation. Every footstep must be planned in advance with a survival
oriented "worse case scenario" or plan buzzing around in your mind in case
things don't go as planned .
My personal challenge is the world of the "vid", that's my term for a visual
person, you know someone who with or without eyeglasses or contact lenses corrects out to
be say 20/50 at the worse. The figures 20/50 means they see at 20 feet distance what
person with perfect eyesight sees at 50 feet. I function as a "vid" and only a
very observant person can tell the difference. Extreme farsightedness, mild
astigmatism, and night blindness caused by hardening of surgical scars left thirty plus
years ago has over the last year left me challenged.
I have adapted, borrowing the tools of survival from blind friends, using good sense, and
the latest technology.
Contact lenses permit me to use the first set of glasses, a set of German bonded compound
lenses, but these make things clear to me as close as 50 feet, a small pair of secondary
lenses allow me to read normal text but with them my vision "drops out" at 7 to
10 feet ahead of me. Neat choice eh? I can see clearly what is under my nose to 10 feet or
everything from 50 feet out.
Driving is the easy part. Leave a lot of distance between you and the vehicle ahead of
you, that way little if anything ever happens closer than 50 feet ahead.
There are little rules like: Watch for movement , when in doubt yield the right of way,
even when you could gamble and go ahead into uncertainty. Another tip for anyone else so
challenged would be: when parking, backing up, or moving in close quarters do it
very slowly. That way if you do touch another vehicle with yours there will be no damage.
I call this parking by braille.Ô
Survival and enjoyment of life are the goals here so don't be afraid to modify you vehicle
with some tech tricks. My van has lights that come on at different speeds, remember with
my driving glasses on I can't see the speedometer clearly, a "CART" unit, which
stands for "collision avoidance radar technology" is mounted in my front grill
and helps me control the distance between me and the car ahead. The "Cart"
adjusts following distance for stopping distance according to the speed one is traveling.
"Carts" have been around for years, but mostly on big trucks and luxury cars. My
unit flashes a red light and beeps when I get too close.
Now about that night vision. In the city with all the street lights it isn't too much of a
problem. I try to avoid driving at night except when absolutely necessary, I have a
teen aged son who loves to drive, so I let him.
My wife is an excellent interstate driver, so I let her. Cut your exposure to a problem
down. But when I really must drive at night military surplus and modern technology has the
key, night vision goggles like they military use when driving tanks, hummers, or flying
helicopters.
The night vision set I use came from a company out west that deals in lasers and surplus
hi-tech stuff. They were made in Isreal and fit like a pair of goggles. They limit
peripheral vision a bit, but what the hay! Beats the alternative.
Moving around on foot, particularly stairs can be a real test. Stairs become a fuzzy
ramp that I used to stumble on until a blind friend suggested that my mind was being
confused by muscle memory and poor visual signals. It worked, now I close my eyes on the
stairs and don't stumble.
Here's a cute scenario: you walk into a strange place everything is out of focus, you
think there are people but you can't really see them. What do you do? The answer is really
very simple look towards the area where you think there are people and give a friendly
greeting. "Good Morning."
If there is anyone present they will assume you are visual and return the greeting. Now
you know approximately how many people there are and where they are. At the absolute worse
you've spoke to yourself, but don't worry no one heard you.
Going for walks can be a problem so take a dog. After a while, if you really
establish a good bond, and teach it to heel, a dog will walk along by your side and keep
things on track. Except for occasional rest stops. The dog will keep you from stepping off
a drop off or getting lost at night, or stepping out into moving traffic. That pooch is no
fool it doesn't want to die.
Walking around at home or in the yard, carry a cane. "My knee is acting up" no
one will pay attention. In my case I carry a blind navigation cane in a brown manila
envelope. It comes out only when I am uncertain, in low light or when teaching mobility to
others.
You can do it too! If your vision is not as great as it used to be don't be a stubborn
fool. Realize what the problem is and deal with it. Don't worry, its ok to be a
little self conscious, but more than likely no one will notice what the problem really is.
Vids are not very observant. Once I was driving a company car, it was a generic blue. When
I went to leave my key wouldn't fit. I heard people laughing and someone said "Hey
fool, your car is over there. " I laughed, nodded, and let then think I had
just done something stupid. They still don't know that I couldn't tell the
difference between the two cars. Let them laugh and always have a dumb excuse ready the
dumber the better.
The vids will feel great having someone to poke fun at and your secret will be safe. By my
descriptions of how I was driving and managing my mobility, or the way I passed or took
objects from them my blind firend were the first to figure it out.
If you are on or just a bit past the edge , don't worry, travel slowly, don't be afraid to
ask for help, "I'm sorry, but these are my old glasses, would you please read that
sign, price tag etc" Don't forget about the support from family and friends, and
lastly that friendly pooch. But you can do it, pass as a full vid and no one need ever
know the difference.
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