<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 5.50.4134.600" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV> `Hammermaker’s corner 9.   Ari Isaac.   I think the technical stuff about my starting to make hammers back in = 1980, tends to get a bit monotonous maybe. Let me relive a funny experience I had some years earlier while = travelling to Victoria from Calgary. Being blind I had to evolve my own way of = relating to people since, as the worst thing about being blind is – not being = able to see… I needed to develop other techniques. These have been pretty successful to = judge by the very few times I’ve been thrown out on my ear. For the = first five years or so, after losing my sight, I felt pretty sorry for myself and pretty = angry at the world at large because of the aspects of life in which I was limited = now. After five years I stopped feeling sorry for myself and, gradually, gave = up my anger at the world in general. I realized that my handicap is only as = limiting as I allowed it to be and so I started doing just about everything I = felt like. I used my ears, nose and sense of touch to accomplish my various = enterprises but I got them done. Being blind, not seeing, gradually, stopped being a = handicap. I can’t drive, I could take a cab. I could work on our car; chage = breaks, change oil, do tune-ups etc. If I couldn’t read – I could get = someone to read to me. Much later I could use a scanner to read any book or magazine. Things = may be more difficult or slower to get done but that is no impediment. The plane to Victoria was something called a ‘turboprop’ = and it was negotiating severe turbulence, so much so that the breakfast coffee was = jumping out of the cups on peoples’ trays. "Everyone, please stay in your seats, ladies and gentlemen" The p.a. = was saying as my bladder rapidly filled with a medium that wanted to be free = of it. I am as good a citizen as the next guy and I listen to = instructions… up to a point. When my bladder reached a point near to meltdown I got up and = walked to the front of the aircraft since the washroom was right behind the = cockpit. "Sir, you need to get back in your seat right away!" The stewardess, = as they were then called, said, confronting me and blocking my way. I don’t quite know where the idea came to me but I looked at = her with a level glance and said, as professionally as you like – "I need to go to the washroom". "Sorry, captain’s orders are, everyone must stay in their seat, = we’re bucking a 120 miles an hour headwind". "Miss, how do you thing I lost my sight?" "I don’t know", she was not expecting the question so I could = plow on. "I crash landed a plane, very much like this one". I kept a straight face and a cool, composed, glance. "Well, in that case… I guess you can go ahead". Ah… the relief of a newly voided bladder that was ready to = explode… I washed my hands thinking of all the other poor devils out there straining to = hold their various blocking muscles, unfair but… is life fair? I thought I’d pulled off a neat little trick. I closed the = washroom door and turned, the cockpit door immediately behind me, to return to my = seat. I felt a hand land on my shoulder and a male baritone voice was = saying "Mr. Isaac, I am the captain, Jo Smith. (I don’t recall the = name) I understand we are colleagues". For one moment I was not there. I was in a garden on a spring = morning, listening to the song of the birds. Then I realized I’d put my = foot in so deep it would take a winch to pull it out. I had to think of the one thing, = the one sentence that would get me out of this situation gracefully. "Well, in a manner of speaking" I heard myself say. Was it going to = work? "I’d like to chat with you about it if you have a couple of = minutes when we land" he said and I was perspiring and thinking how much trouble just = for voiding… "Sure, with pleasure" I allowed. When we did land he wanted to know details of the plane, the part of = the world and the circumstances of the crash. I made up a story and he was = tickled pink. Whether he realized it was just a story I don’t know but he = seemed happy enough and I had to explain to my cousin, waiting at the gate what the = delay was about. </DIV></BODY></HTML>