Category: Activism and advocacy

At the risk of publishing a post that reads suspiciously like a "what I did over Christmas vacation" essay, I wanted to pass along a tip that you may find useful next time you need to make a trip to the local mall.  It may be too late to benefit you now, but I’ll repost this next year in an effort to help you find a way to accomplish your holiday shopping if you are blind and in need of a holiday mall crawl. 

This year, I was all but overwhelmed by the task of getting orders filled and shipped for my Elegant Insights customers, so I did not begin my own holiday shopping until the Friday before Christmas.  As a person who is normally highly organized and efficient when it comes to planning and executing dinners, travel, decorating, shopping and so on, I found my procrastination appalling.  this was one of those years where everything I had planned in the way of transportation and assistance went horribly awry.  Every attempt I had made to leave the house was thwarted, every one of my employees were unavailable, friends had left town, and the commitment I had made to my own customers took up all my time and attention.  So, last minute it would have to be. 

Since I have not been living in this town very long, and do not normally spend a great deal of time in my local mall anyway, I was quite unfamiliar with the mall and it’s layout.  I had a short list of stores I needed to find, but I had no idea where in the mall they were located.  if I could get someone to guide me to the stores, I thought, I could easily dash inside, ask for assistance and quickly move on.  I knew exactly what I needed to buy, and thought I could blast through my list in relatively short order.  I could get to the mall on my own no problem.  But what to do once inside?  Here’s an idea that may help you next time you find yourself in a bind with a task at hand and no sighted guide, friend or employee to assist you. 

I called the main mall number, and asked to speak to a manager or supervisor in Guest Services.  In my local mall, the Guest Services folks provide directions, sell gift bags and gift cards, and work with mall security to keep shoppers safe.  I explained that I am blind, and have a short list of purchases to make, and that I needed a sighted guide to escort me from store to store while I did some holiday shopping.  To my surprise, the person with whom I spoke said they have never been asked for assistance of this sort before.  "Really?"  I asked.  "Seems to me this would be a great service to provide your disabled clientele.  We need to shop, too, and we don’t always have someone available to help."  I offered a number of suggestions as to how this might be accomplished, given that a mall is a busy place, and understandably, there might not always be enough staff available to devote any one person to the task of being a personal shopper.  Still, I insisted, they might consider making such a service available once a month, or just at holiday times, as a way to encourage people who need some extra help to come to the mall and patronize local businesses. 

The management was extremely receptive and gracious, and agreed to assign me a security guard (lacking another available employee at the time) to guide me where I needed to go that day.  I raced inside each store, made my purchases, and moved on to the next retailer.  I was done in an hour. 

While I admit my timing could have been better with respect to approaching the mall management with the idea, they were helpful, sincere and understanding in their desire to assist.  A well-timed follow-up with the Guest Services and security staff might make possible a dialogue about ongoing services for people with disabilities to enjoy an accessible shopping experience. 

Yes, of course I could have done all my shopping online, which most of us do these days, but remember, I had waited until the last minute, so I was extremely grateful, and enthusiastic in my expressions of appreciation for those who went out of their way for me.  You should be, too, if you try this at your local mall.  Mine was packed with holiday shoppers, and I’m sure it was not the most convenient thing in the world for them to spare a security person just for me, on short notice.  Now that the holidays are over, give your own local mall a call and see what you can do to implement some sort of shopping assistance program.  Perhaps they might consider hiring a volunteer or two to be available periodically on assigned days to provide this service.  Or, maybe it would be more feasible only at holiday times.  It’s worth a try.

This wraps up my final post of 2012.  I hope all of my readers have the happiest, healthiest, and most abundant of new years, and I sincerely thank you for your comments, tweets, words of praise or encouragement, feedback and friendship this year.  I will work even harder to make this blog a place for you to find tips, tools, and camaraderie that will bring together a community of individuals in need of support and information.  Please feel free to use the accessible contact form on this page to contact me with any ideas you may have for future topic ideas.  if you would like to be interviewed for an upcoming event or promotional campaign, drop me a note.  if there is any way I may be of service to you, it would be my pleasure.  Simply reach out, and I’ll be there.

Warmest wishes,

LL

Laura Legendary
 

A number of my readers have noted, by way of my Linked In profile, that I have been a long-time member of an organization called Toastmasters International.  While I am not a     current member, my association with Toastmasters lasted over ten years.  Many have asked me to write about professional speaking, or have contacted me for tips and advice.  This interest has prompted me to post the article below.  I was invited to contribute the article after a number of others I had written appeared in a regional publication.  This article was first published in the Toastmasters International Magazine in 2005. 

Talk About Confidence
 

If you asked me to choose the single greatest benefit I could claim as the result of my Toastmasters experience, I would choose confidence.  With so many skills and techniques to be learned, confidence can be the most elusive.  Confidence is stealthy.  It creeps up on you, slowly at first, building in intensity until one day you realize it’s there.

Confidence is not the thing that propels you to the front of a room to give a talk.  That’s courage.  Confidence is not what gives you the ability to speak fluently and elegantly on your topic.  That’s expertise.  Nor is confidence the way in which you move about the platform, your emphatic gestures or your booming voice.  That’s presentation style.  The actual   substance of your contribution is derived from standing in your truth,  more subtle than mere flash.

Confidence is quieter.  It comes from the knowledge that no matter the calamity or crisis, you can trust your ability to cope gracefully. Confidence is that esoteric something that can be difficult to describe, yet you know it when you see it.

Confidence is acquired, not given.  It is an idiosyncrasy of our language that we say, “That really gave me a lot of confidence.”  I tend to think of confidence given gratuitously as that which is temporary, such as a compliment.  It can be fleeting, when, for example, you are the recipient of an unflattering remark ten minutes later.  Instead, think of confidence as the result of a simple mathematical equation:  Time plus experience equals confidence.

The first portion of the equation, time, is a constant.  Time elapses, whether you like it or not, and eventually you will have accumulated a substantial body of work upon which to draw.  The second part of the equation is the variable.  Experience is simply trial and error, trial and success.  You must have both, or there will be nothing that can be learned.  In any competition, it is the person who comes in at second place who gains the most from the experience.  It is the second place winner who picks apart his performance, analyzes every angle, and strategizes the next step to success. No one likes to lose, but if you are at all competitive you will use the next attempt and the experience of coming up short to win.  How many times have you said, "I won’t make that mistake again"?  Knowledge is one of the ingredients that makes experience a variable.  We choose to learn from our mistakes.

Confidence doesn’t come from being told that you are good, it lies in knowing that you are good.  From there, greatness is an exercise.  It’s up to you to use time and experience to your fullest potential.  This may require new choices, but by that time you will have earned the confidence you will need to go as far as you desire.  You will also possess the skills and experience that will enable you to teach others.  Talk about confidence!

LL