Judge rules paper money unfair to blind

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chambersc

Diamond Member
Feb 11, 2005
6,247
0
0
Originally posted by: Exterous
Originally posted by: chambersc
Originally posted by: txrandom
We should make cars for the blind too..it's only fair.

cars aren't necessary to live.

I would make the argument that paper money isn't a necessity. Food, shelter and clothing are necessities. Money certainly helps get these things and is the most direct route - but cash is only a sub-category of money. People lived successfully before the invention of money and continue to do so

That being said - I'm surprised this issue hasn't come up sooner in court. Its a good thing we just redesigned most of the denominations so we can do it again.

I would counter by asking where in our capitalist society can one live and acquire food, shelter, and clothing without the proper means to fund such endeavours. I would exclude hobos from your retort as I don't consider them residents but merely transients.
 

Exterous

Super Moderator
Jun 20, 2006
20,602
3,821
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Originally posted by: Pacemaker
Originally posted by: fubar569
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Boo fvcking hoo. If I don't have any arms then I guess shirts are unfairly designed for me aren't they...:roll:

im with this dude...

seriously...what actually blind person hasn't already made some sort of accomodation on thier own? why is this even an issue?

so now that paper currency is unfair to the blind 7th grade math is unfair to blondes?

seriously...where does this ****** stop?

So I guess we should pull out all the wheel chair ramps then too, and all the handicapped spaces. From now on why don't we just kill any child born with a disability. (See I can make straw men too)

And nice hyperboles too
 

DarkKnight69

Golden Member
Jun 15, 2005
1,688
0
76
Originally posted by: Aflac
It makes sense, but still, it's stupid.

I guess the system wouldn't be TOO hard to change, though, using some sort of system of holes.

Odd, canadian currency that you all laugh at features raised braille in the upper right corner of all the new bills...
 

ahurtt

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2001
4,283
0
0
Originally posted by: Pacemaker
Originally posted by: fubar569
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Boo fvcking hoo. If I don't have any arms then I guess shirts are unfairly designed for me aren't they...:roll:

im with this dude...

seriously...what actually blind person hasn't already made some sort of accomodation on thier own? why is this even an issue?

so now that paper currency is unfair to the blind 7th grade math is unfair to blondes?

seriously...where does this ****** stop?

So I guess we should pull out all the wheel chair ramps then too, and all the handicapped spaces. From now on why don't we just kill any child born with a disability. (See I can make straw men too)

I think the point is there are reasonable accomodations that can be made to help people with disabilities, but then there's just outright plain old self-centered politically correct bull$h!t. People trying to prove something. . .make a point. . .or whatever. There are easy workarounds for this problem with the money. There are not easy workarounds for building accessibility when the building has only steps. Hence the ramps and elevators (which can also be used by non-disabled people I might add or people with varying disabilities or different degrees of disability.)
 

allisolm

Elite Member
Administrator
Jan 2, 2001
25,358
5,059
136
Originally posted by: JeffreyLebowski
Only in America, were the minority rules. What's next, print all money in English and Spanish?

Actually, America appears to be the ONLY country where there is no feature made that the blind can use to identify paper money.
 

krunchykrome

Lifer
Dec 28, 2003
13,413
1
0
Ray Charles demanded that when he was paid in cash, he was paid in $1 bills so he could count his money without being cheated.
 

Pacemaker

Golden Member
Jul 13, 2001
1,184
2
0
Originally posted by: ahurtt
Originally posted by: Pacemaker
Originally posted by: fubar569
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Boo fvcking hoo. If I don't have any arms then I guess shirts are unfairly designed for me aren't they...:roll:

im with this dude...

seriously...what actually blind person hasn't already made some sort of accomodation on thier own? why is this even an issue?

so now that paper currency is unfair to the blind 7th grade math is unfair to blondes?

seriously...where does this ****** stop?

So I guess we should pull out all the wheel chair ramps then too, and all the handicapped spaces. From now on why don't we just kill any child born with a disability. (See I can make straw men too)

I think the point is there are reasonable accomodations that can be made to help people with disabilities, but then there's just outright plain only self-centered politically correct bull$h!t. People trying to prove something. . .make a point. . .or whatever. There are easy workarounds for this problem with the money. There are not easy workarounds for building accessibility when the building has only steps. Hence the ramps and elevators (which can also be used by non-disabled people I might add or people with varying disabilities or different degrees of disability.)

Is it unreasonable to emboss just the number on the bill? It's not like these embossed bills are unusable to everyone else. It probably cost more money to put in all the ramps then it would to make all new bills have the numbers embossed.
 

ahurtt

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2001
4,283
0
0
Originally posted by: allisolm
Originally posted by: JeffreyLebowski
Only in America, were the minority rules. What's next, print all money in English and Spanish?

Actually, America appears to be the ONLY country where there is no feature made that the blind can use to identify paper money.

But not all countries that do have bills that are uniquely distinguishable by touch did so for the purpose of making life easier for blind people. It just worked out by accident that because of different bill sizes, etc. . .blind people were easily able to tell. But it was not always done with them in mind. Only some countries actually have currency designed specifically with blind people in mind. And we do have currency blind people can distinguish in America. It's called coins!
 

Exterous

Super Moderator
Jun 20, 2006
20,602
3,821
126
Originally posted by: chambersc
Originally posted by: Exterous
Originally posted by: chambersc
Originally posted by: txrandom
We should make cars for the blind too..it's only fair.

cars aren't necessary to live.

I would make the argument that paper money isn't a necessity. Food, shelter and clothing are necessities. Money certainly helps get these things and is the most direct route - but cash is only a sub-category of money. People lived successfully before the invention of money and continue to do so

That being said - I'm surprised this issue hasn't come up sooner in court. Its a good thing we just redesigned most of the denominations so we can do it again.

I would counter by asking where in our capitalist society can one live and acquire food, shelter, and clothing without the proper means to fund such endeavours. I would exclude hobos from your retort as I don't consider them residents but merely transients.

Living with family/friends
Shelters/Soup kitchens
Barter - although this method would be the most difficult
I never said this would be a good living - or one anyone would want - merely that money is not a necessity to live. I would also include hobos as they are living and have managed to obtain the bare necessities to live - but then I have a problem in that I like to argue Semantics
 

ahurtt

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2001
4,283
0
0
Originally posted by: UDT89
Originally posted by: fubar569
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Boo fvcking hoo. If I don't have any arms then I guess shirts are unfairly designed for me aren't they...:roll:

im with this dude...

seriously...what actually blind person hasn't already made some sort of accomodation on thier own? why is this even an issue?

so now that paper currency is unfair to the blind 7th grade math is unfair to blondes?

seriously...where does this ****** stop?

blind people do have a system.....they fold each denomination different.

its not like this is some new problem. the judge has too much time on his hands and wants to see his name in the news.

This kind of crap will be the downfall of the USA.

That system only works for the money already in their wallet that assumedly somebody they know and trust helped them fold. That doesn't tell them what denominations of bills the cashier is handing them back as change all the time. Change due is $8? Was that a $5 and 3 $1's the cashier just handed me or was it 4 $1's? Simple solution is use coins or else do like another poster said, insist on all $1's.
 

fubar569

Senior member
Mar 20, 2005
345
0
0
i am not against making accomodations. emboss it, braile it, cut it into the shape of a cheap animal cracker for all i care. money is money. i use plastic, therefore its meaningless to me....

what i DO have an issue with is not with the issue itself, but rather how it is manifested, presented, and pursued. this sets a dangerous precedent that others CAN follow...like the federal couts ruling with a popular spam outfit this month that basically stated the CAN-SPAM act trumps all state laws regarding spam, and its OK to send fraudulent email with a invalid return path and or FROM: address...

ONLY in AMERICA...
 

ryan256

Platinum Member
Jul 22, 2005
2,514
0
71
Well.... guess I can weigh in on this one since I have personal experience in this matter. I haven't read this whole thread and and am not going to but this is in response to the OP.
My first thought is shens! Link to the ruling??
Anyways. I used to work as a bank teller several years ago. And every 2 weeks we had 2 blind guys come in and cash their pay checks. Helping them with their money was not a problem at all. As I would hand them each stack of bills I would say "These are your 20s, your 5s, ect." As I did this they would put a different fold on each stack and insert them into their wallet.
I haven't heard of a single blind person that didn't have other more developed senses to compensate for their lack of vision.
 

ahurtt

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2001
4,283
0
0
Originally posted by: Pacemaker
Originally posted by: ahurtt
Originally posted by: Pacemaker
Originally posted by: fubar569
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Boo fvcking hoo. If I don't have any arms then I guess shirts are unfairly designed for me aren't they...:roll:

im with this dude...

seriously...what actually blind person hasn't already made some sort of accomodation on thier own? why is this even an issue?

so now that paper currency is unfair to the blind 7th grade math is unfair to blondes?

seriously...where does this ****** stop?

So I guess we should pull out all the wheel chair ramps then too, and all the handicapped spaces. From now on why don't we just kill any child born with a disability. (See I can make straw men too)

I think the point is there are reasonable accomodations that can be made to help people with disabilities, but then there's just outright plain only self-centered politically correct bull$h!t. People trying to prove something. . .make a point. . .or whatever. There are easy workarounds for this problem with the money. There are not easy workarounds for building accessibility when the building has only steps. Hence the ramps and elevators (which can also be used by non-disabled people I might add or people with varying disabilities or different degrees of disability.)

Is it unreasonable to emboss just the number on the bill? It's not like these embossed bills are unusable to everyone else. It probably cost more money to put in all the ramps then it would to make all new bills have the numbers embossed.

Assuming embossing would work. . .how long can that bill be passed around before the embossing gets flattened out? Will the paper our currency is made of even hold that embossing for any reasonable amount of time? What kind of modifications to the money printing process will have to be made to do this and how much will it cost the mint? Have to answer these and probably many other questions first. It's not just that simple. But if it works and the cost to do it is not prohibitive to benefit a small minority of people, then fine go ahead and do it I don't care. I don't use cash anyway. It's just the principle of the matter that irks me.
 

Chiropteran

Diamond Member
Nov 14, 2003
9,811
110
106
Girls need to have braille labels that tell how fat or ugly they look, so that blind people can tell without touching them all over.
 

fubar569

Senior member
Mar 20, 2005
345
0
0
Originally posted by: Chiropteran
Girls need to have braille labels that tell how fat or ugly they look, so that blind people can tell without touching them all over.

best idea yet
 

chambersc

Diamond Member
Feb 11, 2005
6,247
0
0
Originally posted by: Exterous
Originally posted by: chambersc
Originally posted by: Exterous
Originally posted by: chambersc
Originally posted by: txrandom
We should make cars for the blind too..it's only fair.

cars aren't necessary to live.

I would make the argument that paper money isn't a necessity. Food, shelter and clothing are necessities. Money certainly helps get these things and is the most direct route - but cash is only a sub-category of money. People lived successfully before the invention of money and continue to do so

That being said - I'm surprised this issue hasn't come up sooner in court. Its a good thing we just redesigned most of the denominations so we can do it again.

I would counter by asking where in our capitalist society can one live and acquire food, shelter, and clothing without the proper means to fund such endeavours. I would exclude hobos from your retort as I don't consider them residents but merely transients.

Living with family/friends
Shelters/Soup kitchens
Barter - although this method would be the most difficult
I never said this would be a good living - or one anyone would want - merely that money is not a necessity to live. I would also include hobos as they are living and have managed to obtain the bare necessities to live - but then I have a problem in that I like to argue Semantics

I would argue "living" isn't merely "existing" but requires some sort of purpose and ambition.

The point I'm trying to make, as well as the judge who ruled on the case, is that one shouldn't be forced to depend on the generiousity and goodwill of others in order to go on with their everyday lives. All of these situations that you've described would classify the blind as inherently infirm and disrespect an otherwise potentially successful and productive life (not that I'm putting words in your mouth -- forgive me if it comes off this way). The USA has been historically slow in adopting progressive views for minorities (see: slavery) but they do eventually and successfully enter the mainstream conscience, often times through the judicial system.
 
Jun 14, 2003
10,442
0
0
Originally posted by: TheoPetro
Originally posted by: txrandom
We should make cars for the blind too..it's only fair.

there are already cars for female drivers :confused: just look at the civic


and the fiat punto with its "girly" steering button

you press it and the powersteering goes into over drive for those tricky reverse parking situations. you could steer the thing by breathing on it and my friend drives around with it on all the time! how she controls it on motorways is beyond me its soo sensitive, suprised she hasnt ended up in a hedge every time she sneezes.
 
Jun 14, 2003
10,442
0
0
Originally posted by: bobdelt
some of these ideas have been so stupid.... just make it different sizes like most countries...


come live in the UK mate

if you think this is stupid, you'll die of lack of oxygen from laughing so much at the ****** that gets passed here
 

chcarnage

Golden Member
May 11, 2005
1,751
0
0
Making braile points or similar marks isn't a technical problem at all. The old Swiss paper money had them and they were made of similar ink like the rest of the note.

Folding sounds like a fine solution for buying things but it is not applicable for the change one recieves.

The proposition to only use coins is more a workaround than a real solution. This behaviour would make it straight to the Tales from the Retail World thread, really.

In my opinion different formats are a good solution, it suffices to vary the length of the notes. So the blinds can easily distinguish them (they wrap them around their fingers) and the adaption costs for vending machines is reduced.

Maybe a redesign could benefit other groups, too. Other than the already mentioned groups of illiterate or visually impaired persons I'm thinking of tourists, too.
 

skace

Lifer
Jan 23, 2001
14,488
7
81
Originally posted by: PrinceofWands
Ok, of the suggestions in this thread so far, changing size would be the most expensive. Better?

Pretty much everyone WOULD be impacted. New wallets, adaptation to new currency, anyone who's business comes into contact with paper money (ie most people), etc. I think the statement was fairly accurate.

Go braille. Simple, less expensive, almost zero impact.

You wouldn't need a new wallet unless any bill was larger than the current size of bills. They could easily work within that limitation. I'm not sure if you would need new cash registers, but like someone else said, as long as you left the 1 dollar bill the largest bill, you could still use it in any vending machine without modification.
 

Exterous

Super Moderator
Jun 20, 2006
20,602
3,821
126
Originally posted by: chambersc
Originally posted by: Exterous
Originally posted by: chambersc
Originally posted by: Exterous
Originally posted by: chambersc
Originally posted by: txrandom
We should make cars for the blind too..it's only fair.

cars aren't necessary to live.

I would make the argument that paper money isn't a necessity. Food, shelter and clothing are necessities. Money certainly helps get these things and is the most direct route - but cash is only a sub-category of money. People lived successfully before the invention of money and continue to do so

That being said - I'm surprised this issue hasn't come up sooner in court. Its a good thing we just redesigned most of the denominations so we can do it again.

I would counter by asking where in our capitalist society can one live and acquire food, shelter, and clothing without the proper means to fund such endeavours. I would exclude hobos from your retort as I don't consider them residents but merely transients.

Living with family/friends
Shelters/Soup kitchens
Barter - although this method would be the most difficult
I never said this would be a good living - or one anyone would want - merely that money is not a necessity to live. I would also include hobos as they are living and have managed to obtain the bare necessities to live - but then I have a problem in that I like to argue Semantics

I would argue "living" isn't merely "existing" but requires some sort of purpose and ambition.

The point I'm trying to make, as well as the judge who ruled on the case, is that one shouldn't be forced to depend on the generiousity and goodwill of others in order to go on with their everyday lives. All of these situations that you've described would classify the blind as inherently infirm and disrespect an otherwise potentially successful and productive life (not that I'm putting words in your mouth -- forgive me if it comes off this way). The USA has been historically slow in adopting progressive views for minorities (see: slavery) but they do eventually and successfully enter the mainstream conscience, often times through the judicial system.

Well, the dictionary supports both interpretations of 'living' so I guess we will have to leave off that argument there. I don't know if the situation would result in an "infirm' judgment - but this is perhaps getting aside from my main argument which is that paper money isn't a 'necessity' to live by any definition. With the joys of direct deposit and a debit card it is entirely possible to hold down a job, maintain an income, pay bills (such as rent) and purchase goods in most areas of the country. I propose that these qualifications removes paper money from the 'necessity' list for 'living'.

Now - to get to my actual stance on the issue:
With my current view being that paper money isn't a necessity for living I am all for a redesign as long as it does not cause undue-financial burden on either the government (and therefore the taxpayer) or corporations (through the refurbishment of bill accepting machines and automated checkouts). As for what 'undue' means.....I don't know yet - I'd guess I'd have to see the proposals and their associated cost before I made that decision
 

child of wonder

Diamond Member
Aug 31, 2006
8,307
176
106
Having actually known a blind guy for the last 10 years, I know this is something that would benefit him. On rare occasions when he would pay for something and didn't have a friend with him, he would have to ask the retailer how much the bill was he was pulling out of his wallet and they would lie to him or give him incorrect change and pocket the difference.
 

cubby1223

Lifer
May 24, 2004
13,518
42
86
Why should the blind be using money anyways? Have them use a credit card - most all places accept them nowadays. You'll never be charged incorrectly by the person at the counter, and the cards even have raised numers & letterring so the blind could verify the card being handed back to them.

But we will never see a change to money. Because it would be such a massive expense for both the government & nearly every business to adapt. So you can say whatever you want about the case - but the fact is our money will never change, because there is no advantage for businesses to do so. We saw Europe switch currencies to the Euro, but that made sense to businesses to adapt, it benifitted them.