In a message to All  Pete Donahue wrote:
 PD> his wife help him find a seat.  If he
 PD> had had proper travel training he
 PD> should have been able to get around by
 PD> himself and let his wife go about
 PD> her own persuits and not have to act
 PD> as his guide dog?  He refused to
 PD> answer these questions.
At the risk of rekindling a flame war, I must observe that much 
has been written in this echo and others concerning the efficacy 
of use of a guide dog as a travel tool by the blind.  Some dog 
users wax eloquent indescribing the human-dog bond and what this 
brings to the travel experience.  If use of a dog is a dignified 
travel method, why is not use of a sighted guide -- a human being 
-- equally dignified and worthy of respect (at least if the guide 
is willing)?  It strikes me as disingenuous, to say the least, 
that a dog user would use the term "dog guide" as a term of 
disparagement in *any* context.  If a dog guide should be accorded 
respect, it seems to me a human being performing similar services 
should be accorded at least equal respect.
As you admit, the old man may well not have had the travel skills 
to travel independently.  You do not know, however, but that his 
wife might have been perfectly happy to act as his guide.
Generally, gerantologists have found that most senior citizens are 
not ready to make major life changes -- why should they; they've 
lived most of their lives.  What they (the senior citizens) want 
-- and what can be given -- are skills to allow them to continue 
to function.  Thus, a rehabilitation technician might not 
necessarily teach an elderly person losing vision Braille but 
would sign them up for talking books and would help him/her to 
mark his/her stove dial so s/he can cook as before.
Yes, Heather Harmon went to the Colorado Center.  But she is the 
exception that provesthe rule.  And, though she tried, she is not 
a truly proficient Braille reader (though she has learned how to 
use a Braille 'N' Speak reasonably well).  Especially with senior 
citizens (but with the rest of humanity, too), you have to take 
people where they're at and go from there.  We're all in a state 
of becoming and none of us lives up to NFB philosophy all of the 
time.
Also, as Karl Smith points out, NFB literature is there to be 
spread far and wide.  Yes, a good deal of it will be wasted.  But 
you never know when someone will catch fire.  Look at the Kernel 
Books.
Besides, in the end, the NFB is about love -- for each other and 
for the blind who hate us and for the blind who have never heard 
of us.  Love implies tolerance and use of the soft approach when 
useful.
After all, the old man and his wife aren't a NAC-accredited agency 
worthy of a picket .
Better luck next time.
Mike Freeman
Internet: mikef@pacifier.com
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