He Wrecked His Brand New Pick-up Truck

11:23 AM |

EARNING OUR DAILY BREAD:
THE BLIND IN AUTO BODY REPAIR
by Daryel White

From the Associate Editor: Some of the most lively,
interesting, and inspirational agenda items at our national
conventions are the presentations made by our own members who are
earning their daily bread in occupations that many people would
think closed to blind employees. At the 1992 convention in
Charlotte, North Carolina, one young man captivated the audience
with his story of returning to auto body repair after he became
blind. Now meet Daryel White, vice president of the St. Louis
County Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of
Missouri and a first-rate employee at Marty's Body Works:

I'm proud to be here today to tell you a little bit about
what I do to earn my daily bread. I'll begin by telling you where
I was and how I got to where I am today.
I'm from St. Louis, Missouri. Approximately five years ago I
lost my eyesight. For about six months I sat and thought I was
never going to amount to anything in life. A rehab counselor came
to my home, and by the time he left I was even more convinced
that I had no future. Then about six months later a
rehabilitation teacher knocked on my door. I said, "Who are you?"
It had been about six months since the rehab counselor had come,
and here she was. She asked me a few questions, which I answered.
She said to me, "What did your rehab counselor tell you?"
I said, "Well, he looked at me and said I wasn't going to do
anything with my life but be what I call a housewife." At that
time I didn't know any different. I had just lost my sight, and I
thought maybe that's all I could ever be. This bright young lady
really impressed me when she first came into my home. She showed
me how to do things that I didn't think I could do, but more than
anything else, she told me something I could hardly believe: she
said that I could do whatever I wanted to--that I could do what I
had done before I became blind.
This lady's name was Patty Page. She introduced me to her
brother, a man who has taken me as far as I can go in making my
life better. His name is Homer Page, and he is president of the
National Federation of the Blind of Colorado and one of the
Boulder County Commissioners. I went to meet him while he was
visiting at his sister's home. I'll remember this till the day I
die; we were sitting at his sister's table, and he asked me what
I wanted in life. I told him that I wanted to do what I had been
doing when I was sighted--have my own home, have my own job, and
live as I was then. He looked at me and said, "You will have
that."
I said "o.k." But in my mind I thought, "Well, this guy's
really lost it."
He went over to the phone and made a call to a lady who in
my heart has really become like my mother.
I first met her in Denver when I came off the plane from St.
Louis. I could hardly even walk. I mean I had hold of this
stewardess like she was my savior! When I got into the gate area,
this woman came up to me and said her name was Diane McGeorge.
Then she took me with her--here I am, totally blind, and she
says, "I'll take you to get your luggage." And she was totally
blind. I thought to myself, "This lady's lost it too!" But I hung
on to her because I was frightened. We got the luggage and went
to her home, and then I went to the apartments for students at
the Colorado Center for the Blind. Diane McGeorge and Homer Page
had managed to enroll me as a student at the Center.
From that moment on I began building my confidence. I
learned how to travel. I had had a cane, but I couldn't even find
my feet! The staff helped me with cane travel, Braille, and self-
confidence. They also introduced me to the organization that is
really my support and backbone today--the National Federation of
the Blind.
I spent about ten months in Colorado, and toward the end I
made some phone calls looking for a job. Even on the day I
graduated from the CCB, I made a couple of phone calls and got
turned down. But eventually I got lucky with Marty's Body Works,
which is in St. Louis, Missouri. I do auto repair, paint cars,
and put fenders and doors on. I even do welding.
Now I want to tell you a little story. When I came back from
the Colorado Center for the Blind, my confidence level was taller
than the highest building that was ever built, so my first job
with the public's eye on me was a hard one. I went to work for
Marty's Body Works two weeks after I got back from Denver,
Colorado.
There's a man named Charlie Collins who owns a big diesel
shop in St. Louis. He wrecked his brand new pick-up truck in a
front end collision. He had it towed to Marty's. He looked at
Marty and he looked at me. Then he said, "I do not, do not want
that blind man to work on my truck!" Marty looked at me and kind
of smiled, and Charlie went on home.
Then Marty said, "Daryel, you're going to do that job." So I
brought the truck in and did the job. I put it all together and
painted it. I mean, I did a superb job. There was nothing wrong
with that truck when I got done.
When Charlie came back to pick it up, Marty told him,
"Charlie, I don't want you to pay for that job right now. I know
how you are; I've done work for you before. You take the truck
back to your shop. I want you to check it over just as close as
you can for fender and hood gaps." (These gaps are the distance
between the pieces of the car you build or rebuild.) He said, "I
want you to bring it back tomorrow and tell me if you find
anything wrong."
So Charlie took it to his shop, and he brought it back the
next day. He said, "Marty, that's the most fantastic job I've
ever seen!"
Marty looked at him, and he looked at me. Then he told
Charlie right there, "That is what a blind man can do."
Charlie owns two eighteen-wheelers over the road. About two
weeks later he wrecked one of his eighteen-wheelers. He brought
it back to Marty's, and do you know what his first words were?
"Let that blind man work on my truck."
I want everyone to know one thing: I thank you for the
support of the NFB, of all you people who are listening to me and
holding this organization together. People like Dr. Jernigan,
President Maurer, Diane McGeorge, and Homer Page are the ones
that really have made me the person I am today. I think we all
can do it, don't you? Thank you.