Street Trigonometry and White Canes

I used to work as a cabinet maker during the day and teach math at the community college at night.

The guys I worked with at the cabinet shop were mostly Spanish speaking immigrants. Many of them hadn't finished high school and none of them had been to college. A few had been in prison. They didn't think they had the brains to understand college level courses.

There's a quick little trick I know to figure out the degree of any angle if you know the lengths of the sides on either side of the angle. Suppose you want to cut a 6" by 8" board diagonally.

 

What angle would you set your saw to make the cut? The trick is to use inverse tan (length/width), or inverse tan 6/8. Just plug it into the scientific calculator on your smart phone and make sure your calculator is in degrees instead of radians and you'll get the answer: just a kiss under 36.87 degrees.

It took me forever to get college students to understand this concept. The immigrant workers in the cabinet shop caught on instantly. Angles and measurements are second nature to them, they knew through experience and intuition how it worked.

I taught them this trick, this little bit of street trig, and they added it into their skill set. It was easy for them. So easy they though I was flattering them when I told them my college students weren't grasping it.

There are other ways to figure out angles but the smart phone in your pocket gives you an answer that is quicker, easier, and far more accurate if you know the basics of trigonometry. Woodworkers ALL know the basics of trigonometry, even though they don't realize they do.

NFB and Lighthouse offer free classes to teach blind people how to use white canes. Orientation and Mobility (O&M) instructors teach those classes. I was taught how to use my cane by a lovely woman named Jan. I've met quite a few O&M instructors on r/Blind. O&M specialists need to go to school to get certified as O&M specialists, and I've been interviewed by a few O&M students as part of their classwork to get their certification.

All of them I've met are wonderful people. Really, if you're wondering where all the good and caring people have gone enroll yourself into school to earn your O&M certification. Your classmates and instructors will inspire you.

That's why I don't want to say this next part. I don't want to belittle the work they do because they're such good people.

Using a white cane is something everybody already knows how to do. For most people these O&M white cane classes are unnecessary. Everything the O&M instructor teaches you is stuff you already know.

Have you ever been in a dark room and walked with your hand outstretched, feeling for the wall? Of course you have - we all have. That's why you already know how to use a white cane. It's the exact same instinct. You're just reaching out with a cane instead of your hand, feeling around in the dark for something you might bump into. It really is that simple.

Just like the cabinet shop guys already had the instinct to find angles, we already know to reach out our hands in the dark and feel for the wall. Five minutes of instruction is all it takes, and much of that is just getting used to the new tool in your hands. Calculator or cane, if you have the instinct the tool seems like a natural extension of yourself.

The main purpose of my white cane isn't to help me navigate, though. It's my conflict de-escalator. It's my incarnate apology for running into your daughter at the grocery store, for kicking your luggage over at the airport, for cutting you off when I didn't see you while we walked. People see the cane and the anger dissipates. My cane spreads love and forgiveness. It's amazing, really, how helpful and tolerant people become when they see me with it.

People want to be good. Seeing my cane gives them permission. It brings out the best of human nature.