Last Updated on: 26th September 2013, 10:30 am
I don’t know. I just have a bunch of thoughts, and none of them feel long enough to make posts of their own, so I figured I’d throw them all together to make a bitch stew. So eat up.
Ok, some of these were provoked by Steve’s post about the bank machine Braille and the Braille in a glass case. It made me think about that pseudo Braille on the bills. Yes, you heard me right, pseudo Braille. That Braille on the bills doesn’t actually say anything. No, you cannot think you’ve learned what 5, 10 and 20 are in Braille by looking at those bills. Those are just blobs of dots. They put one blob on for 5, 2 on for 10, and 3 on for 20. At this rate they will run out of places to put blobs. I actually asked someone from the CNIB why in the blue bloody hell they did that, and they said it was supposed to make the bills readable to anyone with a vision problem even if they didn’t know Braille. Ok sparky, here’s something to ponder. If a person isn’t reading Braille, that means their fingers probably aren’t sensitive enough to pick up the stupid blobs of dots. Hell I read Braille and I find them hard to find. And with use, they fade! away! and unevenly, so suddenly a bill that had 3 blobs can one day look like it has 2. Great system there folks.
I do appreciate the sentiment. I just wished they’d consulted with a few more people. Oh yeah, and this pisses me off. People think they’ve consulted with “The blind” if they’ve consulted with one blind person. Would you even think that’s remotely close to fair if someone consulted with one man in Toronto and then said they got the Canadian male perspective? I don’t think so. You’d say, “Talk to a few more and then maybe say you have the Canadian male perspective. One’s not good enough.” So how is one blind person good enough? I know we’re a bit more rare, but come on, you can find a few. Hell, after you’ve talked to one, you can ask that person who else you should talk to. Chances are we know a few more.
And why aren’t they more willing to have a few more talking bank machines? They exist, why not put them in a few more bank branches? Royal has them, and so does CIBC. It’s possible, let’s get some more of them out there. I love having a conversation about this with a teller. It usually goes something like this:
Me: Why don’t we have a talking bank machine yet?
Teller: It’s a privacy concern.
Me: Why?
Teller: because it would speak your info.
Me: Have you not seen these things? They require a set of headphones, which I would bring in myself.
Teller: Oh…ok.
Me: And which is less private? Me typing in stuff myself and the random chance of someone overhearing the sound from the headset or me having to ask people for help using a bank machine that doesn’t talk and them seeing my PIN number?
Teller: Uh…that’s a good point…um…You should talk to someone about this.
Me: Yep, that’s right. How about you?
Teller: um…
And that’s usually where it sadly ends. I just don’t get why these things are so slow to implement, and when you talk about it, how easily tellers like to try and fill you with bullshit. You can tell they have no idea what they’re talking about when you can pretty much shoot down every one of their claims in one shot.
I don’t even know how to segway to this, but I was thinking more about words, and realized I missed one. People say “no offense” for no reason. There’s one person I know who, half the time when they say “no offense”, the next thing they say wouldn’t even come close to offending me. They’ll say something like, “No offense, but this episode of the Simpsons sucks.” And that would offend me because…? Come on, think about what you’re saying.
And last night I heard another piece of George W. Bush stupidity. He actually said as a response in a press conference about Iraq’s new government, “It is a democracy based on values.” And that’s where his sentence ended. Based on values? That sentence might as well have not even been uttered because it’s meaningless. Everything is based on values. The question is which values are those? Liberal values? Conservative values? Values believed by the utterly insane? Whose values? But of course, no one will notice. They’ll cheer merrily and say that Bush is right and smile and watch the next news story like a pack of zombified robots.
And here’s another thought on not thinking. Have you ever noticed that the ones who call themselves religious always say, “Since I’ve found god, I have no worries. I hand everything over to god and faith.” Ok, translation. “Since I think I’ve found a divinity, I no longer have to think for myself.” Isn’t that a scary thought? On an individual level, that’s digestible. But imagine if a whole group of people found a higher power? Stopped thinking? Do we really want that? Thanks, I’ll keep my worries, because I like my brain.
On a completely different thought, I was shipped something yesterday, which was way cool, but as packing, they used those bastard Styrofoam beads to cushion the box. Those things are possessed. For one, they defy gravity. You go to lift the contents of the box out, and they seem to float out with your hands, then cling to them. My god, they would not come off my hands! I’m still picking little Styrofoam bits off my floor. they are every bloody where in my house! The only thing worse for getting all over the house are wood shavings if you’ve ever had a pet hamster or other rodent.
And…holy crap I’m out of ideas. Scary thought eh? Or maybe you were all just hoping I’d shut up soon. Next time I’m sure I’ll have something more coherent to say.
