The idea of going further afield has never changed, and the farthest place he went to alone was Guangzhou, taking Dick all the way by plane and learning to make coffee. The moment he got off the plane, although it was wet and wet and stuffy, he felt that the world had never been opener. He also went to climb Mount Hua with his friends, stood on the top of Mount Hua, and listened to his friends describe how steep and beautiful it was, which was the moment he most hoped he could see it--it was difficult for him to restore these dangers and beauty in his mind. The day before the eye removal operation, his parents took him to the Beijing Zoo, and while he could still see it, he looked at the whole thing again, and he remembered that the last picture left in the world was the tiger and the wild duck in the Beijing Zoo.
Wen | Congcong
Edited | Golden Turn
1
At 8 a.m., tuner Yang Kang set off. He had to set off from Beijing's South Sixth Ring Road and rush to the great west side, 33 kilometers away from home, to tune the piano.
As soon as he entered the door, he first found the position of the piano, opened the top cover and side panel of the piano, sat down and played a song "Kikujiro's Summer". Judging the pitch of this piano from the melody is Yang Kang's work. Every time a key is pressed, the string mallet connected to it hits the string and makes a sound, and the 88 keys correspond to 88 string mallets, and 220 strings, each corresponding to a black tuning nail.
Yang Kang has been in contact with the piano for 25 years, identify which corresponding string needs to be adjusted, take out the tuning hammer to twist the tuning nail to the appropriate degree, these are not difficult, the difficulty is to arrive here on time, sitting in front of the piano - he is a visually impaired person, when tuning, always accompanied by him is the milk tea guide dog Dick. Whenever he tuned, his face was reflected on the black piano surface at the score frame, and the cheekbones on both sides bulged outwards, reminiscent of Joey, the male protagonist of the cartoon "Psychic Journey".
Yang Kang was not born invisible. At the age of 11, due to retinoblastoma, he removed two eyeballs and turned them into two black holes. In order not to frighten people, he installed two prosthetic eyes in his eye sockets. During the treatment, the function of the eyelids was destroyed, and he would not close his eyes and would not cry again. Although Yang Kang could not see his own appearance, he continued to wear glasses because of the feelings of others.
Contact with the piano is not inspirational, more often is not chosen, after not seeing, Yang Kang's mother did not consult with him, directly bought an electronic keyboard, told him, you learn the piano, when you say this, the teacher in class has stood in front of him. Half a year later, he learned well, the electronic keyboard was replaced by a piano, and he studied for 6 years. In 2002, he was admitted to the School of Special Education at Beijing Union University, where the visually impaired community did not have many options and could only study two majors: music and massage. He didn't want to learn massage, so he learned to tune, and after graduation, he became a tuner.
Most of the students who studied tuning with Yang Kang in college ended up getting a massage again, because they couldn't bear the insecurity of going out and the timidity of standing in front of strangers. But Yang Kang can't do it, he can't stay idle, even if it's inconvenient, he still has to go out, teach people to play the piano, sell musical instruments, and go to the Apple store to do sales - until he became a tuner, he didn't change anymore.
Zhihua is also such a person who can't stay idle. His eyesight was gone little by little, and from the age of 10 onwards, his eyes had been gray, and then darker and darker, darker and darker, until he was seventeen or eighteen, and he couldn't see it at all.
Later, he studied vocal music, and after graduating from college, he went to the art troupe, worked as a recitation actor, a radio host, and worked as a trainer in a public welfare organization, teaching other visually impaired people how to go out independently. Seeing him in person, you may remember that in Lou Ye's movie "Tuina", he played a blind man in the massage parlor, which was a small role.
In 2019, Zhihua entered Didi and became a corporate social responsibility manager, taking the subway to and from work every day like people with normal vision. Every day, he would bring a guide dog named Mango, and when he used the screen reading function of his mobile phone and computer to handle the work, Mango obediently lay under his workstation.
Zhihua said that in the past, he always heard others comment that he was restless and did not keep himself, as if because his eyes could not see, he should always wear large sunglasses and be more peaceful and self-guarded, but he knew that it must not be the life he wanted.
Yang Kang and Dick
2
Compared with normal people, if the visually impaired people like to toss and love life, it means that they have to pay a greater price.
Originally, Yang Kang lived in Tangshan, which was his hometown. In the past few years, every time he contacted customers on his mobile phone in advance, took the train to Beijing once, tuned the tone and then returned to Tangshan. In 2019, he got married and began moving to Beijing's South Sixth Ring Road.
In the vast city of Beijing, the biggest challenge in tuning this work is how to reach the destination. Customers are distributed in all directions of the city, all rings, when there is no mobile phone navigation and guide dogs, Yang Kang can only ask for directions, when can arrive, all by luck. On April 20, he took three orders, namely the West Fourth Ring Road, the North Fifth Ring Road and the North Sixth Ring Road in Beijing.
Good to have Dick. Before Yang Kang went out to rely on blind canes, there was always no spectrum in his heart, walking afraid that something would hit in front of him, or fall into the ditch, Dick filled this insecurity, need to beg people's things, and now Dick can help him solve. For Yang Kang, Dick is like a child, every one or two weeks, he will take Dick out to take a shower, shower gel for bathing, he will deliberately bring his own, buy imported products.
For Dick, Yang Kang waited for 5 years. In 2012, he submitted an application to recognize the leader of the blind dog, at that time, the country's less than 30 guide dogs, the cost of cultivating a guide dog is extremely high, about 150,000-200,000, only screening has a heavy standard, retrospective three generations must have purebred blood, no record of injury. However, guide dog agencies do not charge any fees to users, and only rely on government subsidies and public welfare donations to maintain normal operations. To this day, there are fewer than 200 guide dogs in the country. In 2017, Yang Kang received a call from the Dalian Guide Dog Agency, asking him to train with Dick for a month to see if he and Dick could adapt to each other, and he described the feeling of that moment, like flying... I finally got in line.
But also because of Dick, Yang Kang's conflicts when he traveled later became more intense. More often, these conflicts have nothing to do with his invisibility, and are closer to some obstacles actively created by the outside world.
Just after taking Dick back to Tangshan, Yang Kang encountered a new problem: when taking the bus, the driver did not let Dick come up, Yang Kang took out the guide dog use certificate, registration certificate and immunization certificate, and told the driver that this was a guide dog, and the state stipulated that the guide dog could enter and exit any public place, including buses and subways. The driver said: No matter what dog you have, it is a dog, it just won't let you get on. The next day, he ran to the bus company to complain, and also called the municipal government hotline, and the leader of the bus company came out, and the driver's attitude eased.
Sometimes, the driver lets go, does not mean that Yang Kang and Dick can take the bus normally, the voice of opposition comes from the passengers, even if the driver helps to intercede, the other party can always scold until they get off.
Taxi will be more convenient, if you make a move, it depends on luck, standing on the side of the road, keep reaching out, there is a car stopped, he can get on. Later, Yang Kang began to use Didi, and at first he would encounter difficulties. More than once, he used Didi to call the car, and the driver refused to take it when he came, saying that the company ruled that passengers could not carry large pets. He explained that this is not a large pet, it is a guide dog, and the other party still does not agree. Another time, a driver didn't bother to argue with him and said to call the company and ask him to wait where he was. It was the middle of summer, the road was so hot that it was hot, and a few minutes later, someone next to him kindly reminded Yang Kang that the driver had left.
Even if you successfully reach the customer's home, there will be new problems. Yang Kang remembers that in 2009, he once went to the door to tune the piano, the company was not at ease, found a colleague to accompany him, it rained that day, and when he rushed to the customer's home, the other party opened the door to see, asked how two people to tune the piano. He explained that he was a blind tuner. As a result, the other party's attitude took a sharp turn: Ah, I don't use this blind man, I don't believe that the blind man plays the piano, you hurry up. He also threatened to complain, how to send a blind man to tune the piano? Snapped the door shut. This has happened more than once, and some people have expressed their concerns: blind people tune the piano, what if the piano is broken?
Dick is a 5-year-old Labrador who can stand up to Yang Kang's chest. He took Dick to the client's house, and when the other party saw such a large dog, he immediately refused to let him in. Yang Kang explained that this is a guide dog and will not hurt people. But the other person sometimes finds reasons: having a child at home, having an allergy to dog hair, or having Dick tethered in the hallway. Yang Kang generally refuses, because the guide dog cannot leave the owner in the working state, and yang Kang is reluctant to do so.
Dick accompanied Yang Kang to tune the piano at the client's home
3
Yang Kang is the kind of person who is more willing to spend time fighting when encountering difficulties. When the taxi encountered didi's driver refusing to take him and Dick, he called the customer service phone to complain. The time the driver ran away with a cigarette, he and his wife posted a video on social platforms to give feedback, and Didi's security department later contacted him directly to apologize to him.
He realized early on that only by fighting could he give himself the space to fight for freedom. After graduating from Yang Kang College, he continued to specialize in this, but the undergraduate only had one major in massage, he lived in the basement of Beijing, while going to school, while playing the piano to people in a café, two hundred a night, not every day there was such an opportunity, when he was not alive, he also took some massage orders.
Zhihua's growth is also similar, ordinary children in childhood, everyone's desire is to be a scientist, painter, musician, but for the visually impaired, most of the future wishes are that I want to be a good masseuse, and a little more bullish, is to open a particularly large blind massage shop.
Zhihua's father did the same, spending money to open a massage shop for him, welding a particularly strong massage bed, and looking for someone to post small advertisements everywhere, but he did not want to be trapped in this massage shop, tried to mention this matter to his father, said that he did not want to see 70 years old at the age of 20, and he was always around a massage bed. Sure enough, my father was angry.
Zhihua was not reconciled, and ran to Changchun University alone and performed with the art troupe. Because of his contact with more people, he found that the stereotypes of people around him who were visually impaired were too deep. Later, he left the art troupe to go to a public welfare organization, and more visually impaired people went to universities or communities in Beijing to give everyone a paragraph, just to break this stereotype. Once, he went to Beijing Institute of Technology, just entered the door, the students were afraid that he could not see the fall, eager for three or five people to lift him up and walk, he said a paragraph on the stage, the people below did not dare to laugh, about two hours later, the students slowly let go, and then went to the toilet, it became only one student leading a group of visually impaired people to go.
But even knowing the misunderstanding caused by poor information, after adopting Mango, the problems that often occur still make Zhihua very angry, and even quarrel with people. There are four principles of guide dogs on the street: do not caress, do not feed, do not call, do not refuse. This is to prevent guide dogs from developing the habit of playing at work. But passers-by saw the mango, or can't help but want to tease, once, he heard a person next to him making a tuting sound at the mango, he stopped the other party from saying don't tease it, and the conversation became, I didn't tease it, so why do you care.
Take mango on the bus or subway, Zhihua also has to explain to people for half a day, taxi, but also always encounter refusal to load, sometimes, out of the door to take 40 minutes to get on the bus, change several drivers in the middle, one after another refusal, so that Zhihua's mood also becomes impatient. During that time, his friends all saw that he was a little nervous, and told him that he felt that he had a dog, and his personality had changed, which was not the case before.
But Zhihua felt that he had to do this, and make it clear to these people: I am not difficult for him, he will have to be difficult for me, I am difficult for him, before I can come out to help us solve this matter.
Zhihua and Mango are using Didi to call a car
4
When Luo Zhenzhen, the head of Didi Public Welfare, first came into contact with the visually impaired group, he could not understand why this group of people was easily excited. At first, she felt that the company had solved this problem at the institutional level, which may be an isolated case, but later when she came into contact with more and more, she found that everyone lacked understanding of accessibility: Didi allowed guide dogs to get on the car, but also gave drivers the right to refuse to carry large pets, visually impaired people only saw the former, while many drivers only saw the latter, how to solve the contradiction between them?
Zhihua also asked some drivers why these situations occur, the feedback of drivers is that they can carry visually impaired groups, but they know nothing about guide dogs, and there are many concerns: in case of biting the back seat, or jumping in the car to affect driving, who will bear the consequences?
In October 2019, Didi Public Welfare organized an accessibility discussion meeting and invited Zhihua and other visually impaired and hearing-impaired groups. At the earnest discussion meeting, Luo Zhenzhen realized that the subtleties that ordinary people are accustomed to are a huge inconvenience to these groups. For example, normally, didi drivers arrive at the designated location, will play double flash and wait for passengers to find their own to get on the car, but the visually impaired group can not see the double flash; when they get off at the destination, Didi will have a voice broadcast for safety reminders, and passengers will pay attention to the front and rear of the car, but for the visually impaired group, this is also impossible to do.
After knowing the specific encounters of these people, Luo Zhenzhen also understood their initial excitement and anger. At the end of 2019, Didi formulated a specific plan for barrier-free travel projects, launched a barrier-free car, and continued to optimize the accessibility function of APP information, so that the blind group can successfully hit the car through the voice reading screen. Originally, Zhihua often called Didi's customer service phone to give advice, and later, Didi took the initiative to contact him and asked him if he would like to work at Didi, because he was more convincing than any employee to ask those real questions.
The initial online service is for the visually impaired group with guide dogs, Didi contacted the guide dog agency, found nearly 200 guide dogs currently in service, and gave the owners of these guide dogs a real-name certification, when they take a taxi, Didi will have a voice broadcast, reminding the driver that this is a passenger with a guide dog.
The guide dog is in the Didi car
Didi also thought of targeted recruitment of drivers willing to serve the disabled group, but Zhihua did not agree, he was worried, what if only one or two thousand, or even one or two hundred, were recruited? All drivers should come and do this job. The turning point occurred in the outbreak of the new crown epidemic in 2020, in order to transport medical staff, Didi recruited a medical team in a targeted manner, when 160,000 drivers joined, which dispelled Zhihua's concerns, in the moment of life and death, there are 160,000 drivers willing to join, that willing to join the barrier-free service of the drivers are definitely more.
This has proven to be true, with 1.8 million drivers already joining less than a year after the barrier-free mobility project went live. Zhihua joked that after many drivers joined, they ran a lifetime of online ride-hailing cars, and they may not be able to pull a guide dog.
After the project landed, Zhihua found that if you want to achieve true human care, the most difficult thing is always trivial details. They added a special voice broadcast for the obstacle group in the new version of The Didi APP, and the passengers took the initiative to get on the bus and became the driver looking for the passengers. Let the passengers pay attention to the front and rear of the car, instead let the driver pay attention to the passengers coming in front of and behind the car.
Didi's barrier-free public welfare project is expanding from the visually impaired group with guide dogs to all visually impaired groups, and recently, Didi signed a strategic framework agreement with the China Association for the Blind to further promote barrier-free travel services for the visually impaired. In the next step, the object of the project service will be expanded to all first-level blind people, that is, completely invisible people.
Now, Yang Kang takes a taxi to tune the piano, and rarely encounters the situation of refusing to load again. He set a new plan for himself, and in the future, he and his wife would take their respective guide dogs to tibet by car. He clearly felt that he was more free to travel now than he had been a decade ago. In the era of no smart phone, he can't read text messages, and texting can only be a string of pinyin, often sending a string of garbled codes. But now, before meeting the driver, the two sides have reached a tacit understanding that they no longer have to endure a long wait.
Yang Kang and his wife