In this episode Nadir and Yadira talk about traveling as a blind person and their plans for the last 10 nights of Ramadan. They also talk about some issues they face with ride share services.
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In this episode Nadir and Yadira talk about traveling as a blind person and their plans for the last 10 nights of Ramadan. They also talk about some issues they face with ride share services.
PLEASE RATE, REVIEW, AND SUBSCRIBE
VISIT OUR WEBSITE:
islambytouch.com
FOLLOW Islam By Touch ON ALL SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS:
@islambytouch
instagram.com/islambytouch
facebook.com/islambytouch
twitter.com/islambytouch
tiktok.com/islambytouch
FOLLOW YADIRA ON ALL SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS:
@alwaysyadira
instagram.com/alwaysyadira
facebook.com/alwaysyadira
twitter.com/alwaysyadira
*playing intro Assalamu Alaykum Welcome to another episode of Behind the Blind. This is Nadir. And this is Yadira. What's up, Yadira? We took a little break this weekend. Why did we take a break? What happened? Oh, I'm a giant now. That's right. I'm not going to talk if you would keep using that. Why? Why won't you talk to me? I love you so much. God, that's too fun to play with. Okay, are you done? You know what it is? I forgot to press it before I introduced myself. I was trying to do, Assalammu alaikom, this is nadir you know, blah, blah, blah. But I was trying to hit that first, then do that. Oh, I didn't hit record on this. Let me hit record on this, on the mixer. Anyway, so sick children. Had two kids, I had two kids. I had stomach virus. What's going on, guys? Let's talk about what's been going on over the past week. Yeah. And a week, right? Because we're recording this on Wednesday. First thing is first. I was traveling, right? Yeah, you were traveling. Two of. The kids had... Two of the kids got stomach viruses, so they were all sick, and then I'm on the on, and a whole bunch. So let's break that down, shall we? Sure. All right. So first, I was leaving. I left to New Jersey on Wednesday, right? That was a week ago because we're recording this on Wednesday. And that flight, bro, that flight was exhausting. Oh, my God. I was in that plane. I left the house at eight in the morning. I didn't land until 630 in the evening, which was insanity. So interesting question for you because you're just talking about travel. So how easy is it to travel if somebody who's blind? Okay. So yeah, that's actually a good way of going about it. So when you're traveling as a blind person, it can be touch and go. Sometimes it could be real smooth, real easy, and sometimes it could just be a pain at every end. I've never flown by myself, so I haven't done that yet. Not to say that's off the table and like, Oh, I will never do it. I just haven't had a need for it. I don't know. I've never really had to do it. And anytime that we might be like, Okay, maybe you'll have to fly out. It turns out that I don't. And so it just didn't work out. It just don't happen. Now, if I can really push because what I really want to do is get that certification or whatever for the brail and stuff. If I can get certain things that I want done, I may have to fly out for that. And then it's not like I'm avoiding it. You know what I mean? No, I get it. You travel if you need to, right? Let me get my phone off the desk. Phone is just chilling. Look at this. Shut up. You're just not even professional. Where is my phone? Oh, yeah, there you go. You don't even know where yours is. I have mine handy. Anyway, so traveling as a blind person, how is that for someone who travels a. Lot by himself? All right. So usually I go into the terminal. And the first thing I got to do is try to find where I can check in. Online check in is okay. And the stupid little kiosks are a giant pain, so I like to go to the desk. So first thing is first is trying to find where the desk is. Now, if you walk into the airport, depending on where you live, the airport can be huge. And you may not have someone always there with you to point out where the desk is. So you could just walk right into just the middle of a hallway and you just got to figure it out. Now, thank God for Aira, and Alhamdulillah for services like Aira and for those who can afford Aira. But you get five minutes for free, right? Yeah, there's Be My Eyes, but Aira it's trained. People are trained for that. So if I can't find anyone, I usually break up my phone. You get your five minutes for free. And also there's access points. Oh, yeah. But DFW is not an access point. I don't know why. It isn't. Dallas Love Field is an access point. That's so weird. Because they tell you there's barely any traffic there. That's why. You have. The smallest hub. That's how they do it. The really big. One that people use. American Airlines should be paying for this crap. You know what I mean? American Airlines should be like, We're the blind friendly airline. Come join us and we will fly you around the country. Oh, what the. Heck was that? You messed up. Fly you around the country. I'm a robot. The American Airlines robot. Hello. I'm going to quit if you don't stop. Tell your story. I was trying to do this. And we'll fly around the country. I was trying to do that but I totally screwed up. Anyway, so I use Eira, find where the thing is. Find where the desk. Thank you. That's the word I was looking for. Desk. That's the word of the day, children. Desk. All right, so get to the desk, check in. And then the first thing they ask me is, Would you like assistance? Now, here's where it gets tricky. Yes, I would like assistance. That's a good question to ask. Do you need a wheelchair? No. And I say, No, I don't need a wheelchair. Okay, someone will meet you. So you go and they'll show you where to go wait for the people to come. Now, waiting for these people to come is a whole different... That's a whole discussion in itself, right? Because they can come in two minutes or they can come in literally. I've missed planes because of these people. Literally missed my flight because they have just kept me on hold. I try to be like, Yo, I need something. They come at the last minute, we run to the gate and the flight is the gate's closed and I literally missed my flight. What compensation do I get for it? Nothing. Nothing at all. I get a hotel room for the night at the airline that I'm at. They give me the earliest flight out so I got to get up stupid early to get back home. And it's all their fault. Yeah, and it's all their fault. You get nothing for it. So that sucks. I think it's because they hire third party companies. To do the waiting. That's exactly. What they do. The meet and assist. And so they're not really held accountable and so they don't really care, honestly. They really. Don't give a crap. They genuinely don't care. So now you go and you're waiting and someone will come to you. Of course, they'll come with a wheelchair. Now you will get people who are cool about it and who understand this person does not need a wheelchair. They just need a guide. They need someone they can either follow or they can be a sighted guide for because there's a lot of stanchion and a lot of crap all over the place. But some people get so pushy about the wheelchair and upset that you don't want to sit on this damn wheelchair. They're like, You need to sit in it. You need to sit in my car? You need to sit in the wheelchair. It'll be easier. It's like, No, it'll be easier if you just shut the hell up and just take me to where I got to go. I don't need to sit in. The wheelchair. One disability does not equate all disabilities. And if I told you I needed a wheelchair, I would understand you, let me use the wheelchair. But if I explicitly told you, I do not need a wheelchair, why would you push a mobility tool that I have no. Use for? Maybe somebody who actually needs a damn wheelchair. Maybe me and someone else are going to the same terminal or something. And it has happened. So take us both at the same time. It's so ridiculous that... It's very frustrating. And then when was it? When we flew last time, coming... Was it when we landed in Kennedy? Yeah. I don't know. Because it was a woman that was waiting for a meet and assist as well. She herself was in a wheelchair, and they sent us the meet and assist, and then she figured she was going to come with us. And they were like, Oh, no, we're not here for you. And they just left her there. And we were like, I mean, we're going to all the elevator, but I... If we're all going to the same. Place, bro. Just go. So then they will drive you nuts for not wanting to sit in the wheelchair. And it's so much easier. It's so much easier. And it's killing time. It's like, Bro, let's just go. All I got to do is follow you. See, this is the problem. It's easier. Why? Because you're stupid. That's why it's easier. Because you're too damn dumb to say left, right, straight, back up. That's why. That's why it's easier. Or just make a conversation. Because that's why. Or my favorite is when I'm like, No, I don't need the wheelchair, and they'll go grab my arm anyway to try to put me in it. And I'm like, Don't touch me. Oh, Dito is ready to start a fight. A couple of years back in Newark, whenever we went to go see Mamiyta before she passed, man, was that getting there or leaving? It was leaving. It was leaving? Oh, my God. You was ready to fight that lady. It was leaving. And my grandmother was already... I knew she was ill, but seeing her, you just knew this was it. So that's weighing on me. And plus, I just don't like going... It's a lot of trauma back in Jersey, so I don't like going to Jersey. If I can avoid going to Jersey, I do. I don't like going. We will be going, though. I will be going because I have to go and I got to do things. But if I can avoid going to Jersey, I do. And it's not a place that I'd be like, You know what? I want to visit New Jersey and go and hang out. That's no. It's. Not your... No, I left Jersey and I'm... You left Jersey and you're all right. You never go back, right? I'm fine with that. I don't want to. Go back. Man, I'm totally off center. I just realized this. But this. Woman at the airport... You keep talking, I'm going to fix my camera. Was doing the same thing. You got to get in the wheelchair. And I have the guide dog with me. I have my dog with me. And I'm like, I'm not getting in the wheelchair. And I just want to go home. And she's just pushing and grabbing. And at one point, she keeps pushing and not physically, but like pushing forward and pushing. And at one point, she actually reaches out and just grabs my arm. And I just lost it. And I was like, Don't touch me. like I... He's a guy, real gangster, real fast. I think I dropped a bit. I was like, Don't touch me. Don't touch me. Don't put your hands on me. I really hate Jersey. I hate this place. I hate this stupid airport. I just lost it on her. And I just want to go home. And she was. Like, Okay. Yeah. Well, that's what happens, bro. And then the thing is, they're like, These blind people, they're so ungrateful. And she was like, Oh, okay. This is what I was talking about. We're talking about the whole DAO and... Oh, not DAO. We're talking about the whole people trying to represent us pretty much, right? You speak up for yourself, they're like, God, why are you so ungrateful? We're really trying to help you. It's like, No, you're doing the. Wrong, horribly. You suck at this job. We're just trying to help. And you. Know what? Nobody asked you for your help. We're just trying to help. But then if you want to help, actually let us speak for ourselves and actually listen to what we're saying and then follow our lead. So that's. Why that... I'm fired up today. You are. But I lost it on that lady that was in the airport. I'm a bit picante today. I see. Picante nader. Let me see. And mind you, this was with me and our four kids. And so my age was only with two at the time. So I had really small kids. I'm trying. Okay, this is now anybody who's a parent and has flown with children knows it is not easy to fly with kids. And. My kids are, Alhamdulillah, Subhan Allah, they're very well behaved. It's not like they act up or they give me a hard time. But there is four of them, plus all their luggages and everything that goes along with it. So it's a lot. And this woman over here, and I have my guide dog with me, which is, of course, huge help, and I can't function fully like that independently without her, but she is still something I have to manage. So I'm trying to work everything out, and she's like, You got to sit in the wheelchair. And then she goes to grab me, and that was the last draw. And you have your guide dog, too. Why the hell would you sit in the wheelchair? I don't need it. I just need to follow you. You don't even have to grab me. I told you that because she tried to grab me before, too. And I'm like, I will follow you with the dog. And I remember because you were just standing there with the kids watching that unfold. I was waiting. What am I going to say? You could speak up for yourself. Exactly. So you're just waiting there with the kids and you're just like, We got to make our flight. And then she physically touches me. And it wasn't that I just yelled at her. I literally just whipped my hand around and pushed her whole. Arm off me. Dude's about to go. To war. I was like, Stop. Dutch man. No, I think Dutch man. I lost it in the middle of Newark airport. And it wasn't like I did it quietly. First of all, I'm not a person who makes scenes. I'm a very reserved person. So if you push me, you know this, Nandit, if you push me to that point, I'm going to lose it even further because you took me out of my element. And that in itself gets me upset. Don't take me out of my element on top of what you did. And so then I just lost it on her in the middle of the freaking airport. And she just said, Okay. No. And I remember that one time, I think I talked about this. I don't know if I talked about this on the podcast or not. But that one time where I told them I was supposed to catch a flight, they were super just delaying me. And they pretty much said, Well, if you want to get there faster, you just sit in the wheelchair. Yeah. No, I don't. Think you mentioned that. I was so angry. That's the. Grading. i was ready. Oh, my God. I was so pissed. When we landed in England, because remember, we went to Morocco, whatever, and then the whole whole crap happened. Yeah, we should talk about that one day, a Morocco trip. And then when we landed, because we weren't originally supposed to go to the UK, we were just there for the rescheduled flight. It was a connecting thing. But we land in the airport and immediately they come with the wheelchair too. And she was like, So we're going to sit in the wheelchair for you. And I was like, I am not sitting on that wheelchair. She was like, Oh, okay. You don't have to. I just immediately went on the defensive. They're like, These damn Americans. Holy crap. They're going to go to war. Over everything. No, no, no. She was like, Okay, it's okay. Okay, you don't need it. That's fine. That's what happened. Yesterday I landed. I came home yesterday. And as soon as I get out the plane, I ask, Is there somebody waiting? Yes, there's a couple of people in the wheelchair is there. There's a guy, African guy there. And he's like, I'm like, All right, let's go, bro. And he's like, Yeah, sit in the wheelchair. I'm like, No, I'm okay. Let's walk. I don't need to sit in the wheelchair. He's like, It's easier. I'm like, You know what? Never mind. Goodbye. I just walk away from him. I just walk away from him. And I try to figure it out. And the guy meets me, another guy passenger comes out. He's like, Hey, I'm staying here. Do you need help? I was like, Yeah, I just need to get the baggage claim. And he's like, Okay. Turns out he's actually worked with the Perkins School for the Blind. And that's then Subhanallah. You know what I mean? Yeah, so he helped you. But it's like, Why, man? Why do you default this? It doesn't even say wheelchair on my thing. It doesn't say. It says assistance for blind or visually impaired. It does not say wheelchair needed. That's what's trying to go. God, bro, it sucks. So much. When you get off the plane, that's if your meet and assist comes. Because sometimes they don't even show up. Sometimes you're just waiting for 20 minutes. And nobody. Shows up. Yeah, just waiting for 20 minutes. Sometimes nobody shows up. Now, if you. Have a connecting flight, you can forget about it. I've said this so many times. Society likes to think we've moved, we've progressed so much. And honestly, we just haven't in certain areas. And when it comes to disability, we are so far from where we're supposed to be. Absolutely. So far. Absolutely. But yeah, traveling, that's. What traveling. That was a hell of a trip. So I went to New Jersey. We made a fundraising appeal at the New Brunswick Islamic Center in New Jersey. Shout out to NBC. Everybody there, Samy and Dr. Shady and Harris. I think Harris is the Treasurer. Bata Kalfihim, they were great. We were trying to get some things lined up while I was there, but nothing came through. It just didn't work. Because it's on my lawn. It's on my lawn. Everything is... You got to book months in advance. So people are like, Oh, you should reach out to that community. I was like, No, bro, it's not how it works. It's just too packed. But anyways, it was good. It was good. Then I went to Boston because the University of Massachusetts in Boston set up a banquet, Forest Land by Touch, like an awareness banquet. Blanket. Yes, a blanket. They set up an awareness blanket. It was red, nice blanket. It was comfy. It was thick. I think it was made out of down. Okay, anyway. I'm going to see how long I could beat this dead horse, right? No, you're done. It died. It's buried. But you didn't die. It died. They had a blindness awareness banquet for us, along with an art gala, which was very nice. Alhamdul to God. Got to be all suited up. Yeah, I know. My mom didn't recognize you. Three piece suit. Let's go. For a second. Then I had an appeal at the masjid that night too, over there in Quincy, the Islamic Association on Islamic center of New England, the Quincy Masjid. But it was actually, and that was pretty good too. So yeah, it was a very good trip, but it was like six days away from home and I am so happy to be home. And how happy are you that I'm home? Very happy. And I was going to get to that because people, well, every time they see me with the kids and you're not there or whatever, it's so hard. It is hard. And it's always the assumption because of the kids. And it is hard. I used to travel way more than before COVID. Forget about it. I'd be on a plane almost every weekend. And so I got that a lot. I don't know how you do it. It must be so hard. And you get used to it after a while in terms of taking care of your responsibilities. And it's not to say that it's a walk in the park. It's not. It has its challenges. But the harder part is not having your companion with you. That's the harder part. The harder part is not having the person that is your comfort, and you can't turn to them when you're really stressed out, which you are stressed out because you're having to manage everything on your own and you don't have this person to readily turn to because things are rough and having to go to bed at night without this person, it's hard. Those are the harder parts, eating dinner without... You know having dinner without you here, those are hard. Having the kids, when is Bob coming home? Can we call Bob? And sometimes you can't because you're in the middle of work. And a lot of times that happens. And them noting that it's not the same eating dinner without you and things like, those are the harder parts. Those are what's really challenging is more the emotional and like... Alhamdulillah, I have such a relationship with them that that actually affects them, right? So the two last night and the night before, you couldn't... Because usually with our jars that we do when you travel, we just call you, put you on speaker phone, and then we read our story together with you because the kids don't want to do it without you. And. They won't. But yesterday and the day before, there was no way around it because you were doing the appeal and the art gala, and then you were flying in when all that was happening. So. There was no way around it. And they were just really upset about it because they were like, I don't know, it's not the same without him. So those are the harder parts of when you travel. The responsibility, it is what it is. And you just... You know what I mean? You pull yourself together and you move forward and that's it. You keep yarning, bro. I am so freaking tired, bro. All in my ears. Deal with it. All right? I don't know what else to tell you. Deal with it. I don't know why I'm saying it's hard when you're not around then you're going to be a jerk like that. Find a button I could press here. Hold on. Am I a robot again? No. Now I'm using a megaphone. Now let's yawn with a megaphone. I don't. Miss you. Go away. Go. God, this is awesome. I love this thing. Ahmed was like, I told Ahmed, I was like, Yeah, man, you know my new mixer? He's like, I know. I know. See? Nobody likes it but you. Everybody likes my mixer. No. Yes. Let me make sure I'm on the right one. Yeah, okay. I'm on the right one. Nobody likes it. That's why I said I don't know why I'm saying I miss you when you're gone. Leave comments in the chat if you like the mixer. No one likes it. You have to let me know if you like it or not. I thoroughly enjoy it. I think it's very fun. Here's the thing. If people don't. Like it, it's not like it's going to stop you from. Using it. Listen, if people are going to stop listening, then maybe I will think about it. Hold off a bit. I won't do it as much. But come on, guys, it's fun. You can't lie and say it's not fun. Come. On, it's fun. Right? Yeah. See, they agree. He answers his own question. Yeah. Anyway, so yeah. I could see the audience right now. I see you. That's the hardest part of everything. I know exactly what you're doing. Can we get back on track? What? What are we. Talking about? I was just saying when you travel. Oh, yeah, we're all sentimental. That was like... Yeah, you. Ruined it. You ruined her. You ruined it. You ruined her. You ruined it. That's why I said, I don't know why I said, Miss, you go away. That's why I told you. But anyway. Okay, anyway. Yeah, I know it's very hard. It is hard, but it has to get done. And that's what I was doing while you were working with the kids. Coop. Oh, I might start teaching at Coop. That's nice. What are you going to be teaching? Blindness Awareness class. This upcoming semester in September. My kids already said they're under no circumstances taking my class. Of course, they're not. Their life is blindness awareness. They're like, I. Don't want to hear about it. No more. Their whole freaking life is Blindness Awareness. Mom, they were like, What do you... I told Dula, I said, I think I submitted the... I'm going to be teaching most likely in the coop next semester. He's like, Oh, okay, what are you going to teach? He's like, Blindness awareness. And he's like, Oh, I'm not taking that class. I'm not doing that. No. And then the other kids are like, Me neither. I see this all the time. I don't need to do this. Why do I need to do this? I can teach the class. They're not interested at all. That's what they're like. I can literally teach the class. Why would I take the class if I know enough to teach the class? But that's exciting. I'm looking forward to that actually teaching the class to co opt. What's it going to say to you? Oh, yeah. What are you doing? What are you planning on doing during your online? Because I'm busy. I'm busy making sure these streams are still going on. If you don't know, we're doing live streams every single night, bringing Quran on. There's live Quran on recitation every day. There's a judge being recited every day. There is live tarawih for those who don't want to go to... For those who aren't able to go to the masjid, or just don't want to go because they deal with so much stigma and push back and being treated like something they shouldn't. Be treated like. It goes back to not being able to go because who wants to go into that? You know what I mean? You can't. There's no... There's just... Yeah. So it's for anybody who's blind, who's disabled, or anybody who's dealing with difficulties with their communities. Any mothers who have newborns who can't make it, parents, caregivers, whatever. Anyone who's elderly and can't make it out. I'm making sure that all of these things are running. He's making. Sure that. They're running. I was traveling and it's like. Streams are missed. It's like, come on, man. It happens. It happens. So anyways, I'm. Busy with that. Sheik is doing wonderful. Sheik Bendim is the man. Sheik Spandim is doing an. Excellent job. He's doing amazing with it and devoting his time and may a love reward him and his family. Abdulla's doing great. Abdulla's the brother from Panama who's reciting. Panama, reciting until may a love reward them and their families were... So what are you doing in the last ten nights? I know you usually have some routine. I am reading. I get up, I pray for... What, you pray for KM? Km. Sorry, I'm slouching. Why are you slouching? I don't know, I'm tired. I pray for KM for a bit, and then I read. I'm doing a jiz from the translation every night that we made. And it's a little weird for me because I'm like, Oh, it's a blessing that I can do this. I used to not be able to do this because I didn't have it available. And then. It dawns on me that we're the ones doing it, and I feel like such an imposter. Yeah, that stuff happens, bro. I feel like such an imposter. Somebody who's way better at everything is doing this. Me, I'm broken. This is really good work and I am not up to par for it. So it's really weird. I feel like such an imposter in this role. You know what I mean? And it's really awkward for me to be in it because I was literally like, it's a pain in the ass. I'm so grateful that this is a thing. And then it dawned on me that this is a thing because we put in the work to make it a thing. And I'm like, oh, no, that was somebody else. You know what I mean? It feels like somebody else should have been doing it. And then I just feel like I'm such an imposter. It's just freaking like... You know what I mean? I don't belong there. I don't know. I don't know. It's weird. I don't know. Do you ever? You are weird. Does that ever happen? You're very weird. Yeah. No, but you know. What I mean? It feels like I don't belong in that place. No, I get it. Yeah, no, absolutely not. I'm not good. Enough for that. And I'm not like, oh, no, somebody who's way better and way more qualified is the one who did that. Listen, we just do what we do because it was put in front of us. Yeah. I understand what you're saying, but whenever you're so bogged down with all the work, it doesn't even hit me really. It usually doesn't. But when you're taking the time out to connect and to really read from the books and use the tools that you have, and I didn't have that before. I genuinely did not have this. And so there were Ramadansthat I just do really much or anything. So it's different. I actually have the ability, and the blessing, to be able to do that. And other blind people have that. And usually when it's something amazing like that, that's always the case. Somebody else said that that wasn't me. I got it. You know what I mean? I didn't do that. I had nothing to do with that. I'm benefiting. From that. I'm benefiting from it. No, we actually did something that people are benefiting from, and still are doing plenty of things that people are. Benefiting from. It makes me feel really strange, and I feel like I am posing. You know what I mean? I'm an imposter. I am... What is that exactly? Like imposter syndrome. It's that. It's like when you feel you're not qualified for it or you somehow got in there. I mean, I love. How people are like, Oh, where did you study? What does it matter? What's that got? I didn't do anything other than put something that was already established in a format that I'm familiar with. That's it. That's what we did. What the hell does it matter where I study? It just. Feels like, yeah, I don't want to use the word cheated into it. You cheated. You just... And that's the thing, though. That's what I have to realize that it was literally just placed into my life because that's what Allah had designed and planned. Bro, I. Don't know how you're making it right now. I'm literally living off of fumes. I can barely. Make it right now. I am making it on, I don't know, adrenaline, I guess. I have to get through. My body is literally hurting. I am so tired. As soon as I'm done with this, I'm probably going to go to that couch behind me, lay down and take a nap. I'm getting. Through it because the kids are like, I can't wait for the eight. I got. To edit this somehow. It's to do a lot. I have to get this over to my man, nick, so I can do the transcript. This is hard, man. This was a crazy weekend, too, man. If you guys don't know, so I was in New Jersey, and the mosque. Oh, I. Saw an article on it. Yeah, the. Mosque that my family has frequented. There's two mosques that we usually go to in New Jersey. I added a couple more whenever I got older, but these are the two main ones we would go to. It's ICPC in Patterson and Clifton, Islamic center, state county. And Jame'e Umar. Jame'e Umar is in Patterson. This is the one my dad always goes to. My dad is there for pretty much every prayer. Five times a day, he's at that Masjid. One of the imams, while he was praying in Sejday in Prostration, he was stabbed. Yeah, they actually did. He was. Stabbed in Salat Al Fajr, right? In Fajr. And my dad was in the second row. After you told me about it... Crazy, bro. And I. Was like, Oh, my God. There was actually an article written on it. I was like, Oh, my God. That's crazy. Who wrote the article? God, I can't remember. I can't remember. I don't know if it was a Jersey Local. A Muslim publication. What did they say? Or Jersey Local. I don't know. I didn't actually read it. I just saw the article. Oh, my God. Look at you. Man, come on. Why would I read it? I got the first... You know what I mean? I don't know. Maybe they have more stuff on it. I don't know. We just know he got stabbed. It sounds like he was doing fine. His recovery is going well. They're saying the. Guy was mentally ill or something. They said the guy was mentally ill, but we don't know why he did it. But this is ridiculous, man. It is Ramadan in Fajr. He's in Sajda. You can't. Even pray without... That is. Scary, man. It is terrifying. You can't pray in safety. That is scary. You can't go to. Worship in safety. That is terrifying. So yes, that was a crazy occurrence. What else happened this weekend? I met Yadira. Hi, Yadira. I met you. How are you? Doing okay? I'm all right. Okay, cool. Nice to meet you. I met. Your four children. I met my brother's fiancee. I met her. She's cool. These cool people. Let's see. What made her win? Oh, it was the fact, you know how I always ask people to give me a weird fact. We should share. I had this video I did. It was like random facts about me. We should totally do that here. But anyways. You know how I always ask people for a weird fact. Whenever I meet someone new, I'm like, Give me a weird fact about yourself. Or with her, I was straight up just asking questions, just trying to get to know someone as fast as possible. So I asked her. I said, Chocolate or vanilla? Yeah, lightning round. I literally called it that. I was like, All right, time for the lightning round. And then I was given points. And of course, I had to say that the points mean nothing. So we did the lightning round. The last question was, I was like, Chocolate or vanilla? And she was like, vanilla. And then Ahmed was like, With rainbow sprinters. That's her go to ice cream. That's yours. I was like, That's it. You win. Automatic. Every time I. Was pregnant, that's what you created. One of. My favorite ice creams, my go to ice cream is vanilla soft serve ice cream with rainbow sprinters. On the opposite. It is. So freaking good. I love vanilla ice cream because I don't really like the chocolate. Ice cream. I don't know why rainbow sprinters, they all taste the same. You could literally color them all white. They could just all be white. It looks the same. It just has to be rainbow sprinters because the chocolate ones do taste different. And then you have the other nasty sprinters. The non crunky. I hate those. I hate the crunchy ones. Those things are nasty. So they have to be the Jimmies. That's what they're called. If you don't know, they're called Jimmies. What? Nonparels. The other ones. Are called Parel? Nonparels. What are nonparels? That's the. Hard little crunchy ones. So the ones that aren't crunchy are called Parel? No, Jimmy's. Wait, hold on. I'm confused now. Why are the crunchy ones called nonparels and the non crunchy ones not called Parels? Because it's like a. French thing or something like that. That's stupid. It's not like an English. Is nonparel a French word? Probably. I don't know. Hey, Google. Wait, I can barely hear you. It's not going to work. Anyway, I don't really like baking. Your son, he's a baker. What the hell is a nonpareil? It's the. Little crunchy. Nonparel? It's weird. What is it saying about an afterlife? I don't know. Hey, Google, stop. I can't hear it. Mike came picking it up, so I have no idea. Oh, my God. Yes. So that's what went down in my weekend. Thank God, I met. I was in New Jersey. We drove to Boston. Me and my cousin, Ali, we literally made it there two hours before the banquet started. Got suited up real quick. Then this is something I got to mention this because this is driving me crazy. Why are people, younger people specific, they don't have any fire to push them. Specifically? Yeah. It's like, we're trying to go to the mosque and I'm like, all right, what time they pray Isha at the mediate? Oh, nine o'clock. Okay. But it's 850. And we're 25 minutes away. Why are. We still here? You're not. Going to make it. Bro, the guys. Are stopping talking to people, saying what's up to people. Why are you stopping? Let's go. We don't have time. Yallah, yallah. You know what I mean? And it's like, come on, man. I mean, I love the guys I was with. Everyone is awesome. But I will have to point something out about you. Okay, go. You get really wound up. When I'm on a time crunch? Oh, my God. Oh. I'm. So wound up. I love you to death. I absolutely do. But that is a test of my patience because you get really wound up. It is a lot to deal with. I like to be early. I'd rather be early than late. You don't know the circumstance that you're going to face. It's not even. When you're on a time crunch. And then when traveling with four children and then you yourself have a disability and then your husband is the most wound up. I have. It's so hard traveling with dad that it's so hard. Look at him, be real quiet. But it takes a whole lot of patience because he's ready to... He's like a spring. He's all wound up super, super, super tight, and anything is just going to make him go. I'm not going to say nothing. I'm just going to sit here with a smirk on my face. You do that. That's fine. Keep telling the people how I wind up. Go, go, go. Because he's. Not wound up right now. Look at him. Wonderful man. But traveling with him is because he gets really wound up. And now he's all upset. Why do I get. Wound up? I have no idea. I genuinely don't know why because me, in my head, I'm just like, Whatever's going to happen, it's going to happen. We'll get there. You got to make the flight. Got to make sure we're on time. You got to make sure that we're not delayed. You got to make sure that we're not being treated like crap. Got a lot of my mind. It's being wound up. Going to change any of those facts. No, it just keeps. Me prepared. No, it doesn't. I'm going to steady. The rest of us insane. I'm in a steady state of readiness. I'm like Marge whenever she was sitting on the couch and she wasn't sitting on the couch. She was just sitting in the air. Yeah, because she. Was in a state of cat like readiness. Mom, what are you doing? Staying in it. I can't do a Marge. I can't do a Marge. I'm really not good at march. I'll come up with a homer thing before this is done. But your traveling with you is... You get really wound up. And I can't get like that because to me, it's like, you know what it reminds me of? Okay, never mind. No, it doesn't remind you of things. It reminds me of going on vacation with my grandma. That's not nice. Yeah. She was so like, everything had to be perfect. It doesn't have to. Be perfect, bro. It's like... And it's just like... If we have to be somewhere at a certain time... The thing is, we're already there and you're still like, No, we're not. We're at the airport, but that does not mean we're going to make our flight. Okay? That does not mean that. But if you don't. Make your flight, I mean, it's like you don't make your flight. I can't get wound up like that. I'm not saying get wound up. I don't know. I guess it's a trauma response or something. I guess so. I don't know. But yeah, trauma. I don't know. Why it's like this. I'm super exhausted. You need to just spend five minutes talking crap about me. I'm not talking crap about you. Thanks a lot, dude. I said I'm a lawn. Unbelievable. You could talk about how my laid back attitude and move the crap out of you. Nope, I'm not. Going to say a word. No, I. Don't care. I'm going to talk about how it takes you 72 years to get ready. Yeah, you can. Why does it take you 72 years to get ready? Your dad used to make fun of me for that. Why does it take so long? I will acknowledge that I take forever to get ready. Honestly, why? It's like, we just got to go to the park. Okay, 20 minutes later. You ready? Why are you rushing me? This is it. I take forever. This is why I'm so damn wound up. No. Because you're in the opposite extreme. That's why. You are just. I have to balance you out. That's not balancing. That drives me insane. That's the problem because you're like, hurry up. And I'm just like, I'm just going to take longer. He's such a jerk. I'm going to. Tune him out and just take my time. You're not nice. You're dead. You're not nice. You're not nice. Oh, God. Can I have my hands back? Yeah. No, you're. Not nice. There you go. Future drama reference. So when. Your dad, he was working on our old house when he was fixing it in that house that we used to live in. And he would come. This is when we were just engaged or we're working or we got married, but you know what I mean? Before the reception. So we were married and that's the one we got. Yeah, this is an. Arab thing. They'll do the religious marriage and then a year later they'll do the actual big thing. The reception. I don't like it. Yeah. They don't like it. No. So yeah. We. Were married, but in the meantime, he would come and pick me up. He would work on the house and I'd go visit you. He'd come home in the van. Yeah. And then he'd be like. We're leaving in an hour. But he was lying. It was two hours. He was like, We're leaving in an hour. Okay. But then I would be ready. And he was like, See, it took you two hours. I was like. See, you're. Ready on time. Oh, my God. I. Still do. I do this forever. You still take. Don't say used to. I still take. Forever and it drives you crazy. You always come out looking like Miss Fancy Adora. You're wound up, but you make sure everything's in order. I just. Like to get things... Listen, I don't know. You know what it is? I don't like things that are out of my control. That makes sense. Whenever it's out of your control, you have to depend on someone else to do it. Of course, I rely on the law 100 %. I understand that. I don't want someone to come and twist that. Because you know somebody. There's always some jerk in the comments of the Tarawih, like, This is Bida. This is Bida. You're like, Bro. How about you take a walk, bro? How about that? You're not even worth it. You do. Nothing to benefit the blind or disabled community. Nothing at all. Nothing. You do nothing. Zero, zilch, goose egg, nothing. And think about it. You have. Time to come and just comment on this. What good is going to come out of your comment? That's what I'm saying. You took the word right out of my mouth. What good, what benefit is going to come out of your comment? And come on, you can just talk about it ell, because they don't even write anything else. They just write that one word, Biddah. Okay, well, I mean... All you can do is make. Due art for blind people. You can't do this. Oh, yeah, we've had that one too. You got to shut up, man. The only thing you can do for blind people is make due art for them. Times I wish I could. Hit people with a steel chair over the internet. That's it. But the thing. Is, you'll say something... Listen, D eedah, I need you to invent that steel chair button. So whenever somebody says something stupid, you literally press a button and a chair just smacks them in the face. That would be the best button ever. But the thing is, you know somebody like that will say things like that because they're over the internet. Because in person they wouldn't. Come say it to my face, I'll. Punch you in the face. This is why in. Person they would never say something like that. You know what I mean? Yeah, keyboard warriors, bro. Yeah, behind that keyboard. Keyboard warriors, unbelievable. Box heads, as my man, the Muslim Cowboys calls them. He calls them box heads because they're stuck in his box. It's unbelievable. But yeah, I get where you're coming from. In having a whole life of having being told you need to depend on somebody, I could see how that affects you. So that's probably why I'm so tightly wounded whenever I have to rely on someone else to get to where I got to get to. You know what I mean? I can't actually physically walk there. You know what I mean? Somebody's telling me, I'm giving you a ride there, so I have to wait for them to come pick me up. Or somebody, you know? Or an Uber, you book an Uber expecting it to be here at a certain time, but it's like super delayed. Okay, example, yesterday, where we take the kids to Coop, that particular town is really hard to get Ubers and lifts. So I reserved my ride. This is like the second or third week where I reserved it. You reserved. It and lift again? Yeah, I reserved. It and it canceled. The guy was coming and then he canceled. Then they booked me another person. I literally sitting outside, letting the kids play, whatever. And then I see that it says seven minutes away. And I'm like, all right, so I take the car seat out, I inflate it because we have an inflatable car seat for Miami. I get everything ready. Okay, now at this point, we're down to like five minutes. I'm like, okay, let's go, guys. Let's put guys five minutes away. On the way to go to the area where we're supposed to wait, there were some sweaters that some kids left behind. So we were like, You know what? We have a little bit of time. So Zoya showed us where the loch and found is, and me and my mom went and dropped off the sweaters with Zoya. No problem, still got time. All right, let's go. I go back to the front and it's back to seven minutes. And I'm like, Okay, maybe there was a stoplight. You know what I mean? Traffic, something. It's fine. I'm waiting and then it says 12 minutes. No, it said eight minutes. And I was like, Okay, then nine. And I was like, Why did it go from five to nine? And then 12 minutes, and then 15 minutes, and then 17. And I'm like, What is... So I texted the guy. I'm like, The app just keeps telling me you're getting further. Where are you going? And then it goes back down to 14 minutes. I'm like, Okay, then back up to 17. I'm like, Why are you getting further again? What is going on? No answer or anything. 21 minutes, 24 minutes. At this point, I had to cancel the ride, try to rebook things. And then my mother was also trying to book. And finally, we got a ride to be... But why the... And no reply. From them. No reply. From them. That happens so often. My mom was like, Call him. And I'm like, I can't call him because it's listed that he is hard of hearing or deaf. Oh, my God. And so here's the thing. Here's my issue with that. I've noticed. It's become a trend that if they don't speak English well, they'll put down hard. Of hearing or deaf. And it's. Starting to really. Piss me off. Wow. No lie. And I've gotten into cars with people who speak Spanish, and I'll try to text them. They're like, Oh, no, I can hear. You speak Spanish. They straight up told you that? Yes. And they'll. Start talking in Spanish. And so what happens is that it's so disgusting. And it pisses me off because, again, it's someone else. It's just. Another thing that people do to make disabled people's lives harder. It's just like those a holes who decided to bring their pets with them and say that they're service animals. Oh, my God. And let me. Tell you. Wow. Why did you open up. This can of worms right now? We're done with the podcast. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Whatever. Keep going. Who cares? What I've been noticing is that's become the new thing. And so I'm sitting here thinking, Okay, I'm going to be going to be really understanding. Obviously, this person is hard of hearing or deaf and I'm blind, so we're going to have to manage our disabilities in the best way we can. The best way to do it is to text. Back and forth. Text back and forth. But no. But when I see hard of hearing or deaf, I'm not going to already giving that benefit of the doubt. So I'm not calling him or anything like that because it literally says don't call. It's just the text. So I'm like, okay, so I'm doing this and this guy never responds to me. It's 24 minutes when it was down to five, I had to cancel. And it took four different trials to finally get a ride. So everything finished and I didn't get home to an hour and 15 minutes after I should have been home. You should really just. Do the reserve a ride with Uber. It's better. But the problem with that is that I've had people cancel because then I have a guide dog. I mean, just let them. Show up and have your phone out. Make sure it looks like you're recording them. You understand? That's the only way you're going to win with that. The reason. I do that is because Lyft has a much better policy. But their reservation. Is way worse. I'm sorry, not policy. Yeah, because Uber has. The same policy. Lyft has a better application of their policy than Uber. Lyft literally has a designated hotline for service animal refusals and discrimination of that type. And so I have had only two people that I've had to report. And I've taken lifts, especially recently a lot. Uber, I've lost count. I can't even start a count on that one. So I don't really do Uber like that anymore. I stick to Lyft. When both platforms, the drivers are like, yeah, hard of hearing or deaf because they just don't speak English, there is a serious problem with that. It is not okay under any circumstances for you to go ahead and use someone else's disability because... Because you don't want to learn the damn language. That's messed up. That is messed up. It's so disgusting. Wow. I never put two and two together because I noticed it before that... I would say that, but I could hear the dude, he's on the phone talking to somebody in Spanish. Yes, it's because they don't speak English. But if you know Spanish, they'll just start talking to you and they don't have an issue. And so they'll say, Yeah, no, I just put that because that way they'll text me and it's just easier. Wow. Yeah, it's so disgusting. It pisses me off. There is way too much abuse on the driver's behalf of Ubers and Lyft. And unfortunately, because there's a lot of drivers that are awesome. But this is the same way that a lot of drivers, especially on Uber, they've gotten if they cancel, they get in trouble when you have a guide dog. If they pull up and see you with the guide dog and they cancel the trip, there's no penalty or even record of your ride with them. So lately, what they do is when they see me with the dog, they'll just go ahead and cancel and the whole ride is erased. And then I can't call and complain because I no longer have it on my record. There's no receipt or anything of it. That's why. Whenever you're rolling with your guide dog, I always tell you take a screenshot. Yeah, and. I do. I do lately. We got. To do all these different tactics just so that we're treated like normal people. Think about that. Isn't that crazy? For my blind people who are listening, you know exactly what we're talking about. Our disabled people who are listening, you know exactly what we're talking about. That's the newest thing where they're... That's what they're abusing now is the Well, they'll say they're deaf or hard of hearing. They have no disability, but they can't speak the language. They'll start talking to you in Spanish and then you find out, Oh, no, I just use that because I don't. And I'm just like, Whatever. And I'm like, Of course, I always say something, and I'm like, You shouldn't do that. You're not deaf and it's not something you play with. You don't do that. That's like when I've had to tell people because I've had people straight up tell me, You're so lucky. You get to bring your dog everywhere. I wish I could bring my dog. I went online and I just got that paper because I can't leave my dog. I love him too much. It's awesome. I'm like, It's not awesome because your dog is not a trained service animal. And they distract mine. They can even put mine in danger. And you make my life and anyone who needs this stuff and who needs these dogs like me to live full functioning lives, you make our lives a million times harder. Now, when we fly because people have abused that now, I have to fill out a stupid form every time I fly. That wasn't a thing. I flown with my dog a lot before. You have. To be extra diligent on their vaccinations. It's not like I ever. Miss my dog's vaccination. My dogs are awful. That's not the. Case, though. For example, we took them, we did it before the year, but because it's a new year now we have to take them to the vet again. Even though we just took them, you just saw that they're good to go. No, but I had to take. Them again because that record, it was in the previous year, even though it was literally like the month before. And what happens if there's a family emergency and you have to fly out? No. If you don't have your paperwork... Forget you. You don't get it. And it's all because people have abused a system that was supposed to help us out, those of us who actually need it. And we're supposed to be like, Yeah, it's fine. Oh, the dog is so cute. It's not fine. It's not fine. And mind you, this is coming from somebody I love dogs. And you know what I mean? But it's not okay for you to use your pet or whatever, even your emotional support. By the way, emotional support animals are not service animals. They're not the same. And if that upsets anyone, I'm sorry that should that upset you. But that's the reality of it. Service animals are trained to complete a task because without these tasks, a person cannot live a full functioning life. They literally provide tasks to be done. They're trained to complete tasks. I cannot walk out by myself without a tool, whether it's the cane or the dog. And I choose to use the dog because that's what I'm comfortable with. An emotional support animal is just there to provide that comfort that you need. And that's fine. I'm not saying you may not need it. I'm not saying that at all. But it's not the same as a service animal. It's not. When you just bring your pets or you bring your... I've seen, what was it? John Oliver was it that did the little thing? Somebody was trying to bring their pet. It was like a pig or something. It was some outlandish animal. I'm like, yeah, it's my emotional support animal. This is why now we have to have these paperwork, all these different papers done and all this paperwork filled out just for me to fly. And I've flown with Hazel before. This was the thing. I flew with Andrea. I've flown a lot before, and that wasn't a thing. Now it's just an extra headache. Now it's just an extra. Step, an extra pain in the behind that we have to do. Literally, on our way. To New York because we didn't fill the paper or let them... We didn't even write. She was already approved for the airline. We just didn't let them know that the dog was coming. On the flight. So we had to go through hoops for that. And that took. Maybe 20 minutes. Took us 20 minutes. Half hour. 20 minutes, half hour to get that fixed. Mind you, we have to catch a flight. And there it goes. Natalie's being wound up like a spring. And on that note, I'm going to let it leave it here. Sorry, that was my. Little rant because that really irritates me. That you needed to start to bring. Up at the end of the podcast? Good job, wife. Anyway. So, guys, what? What are you going to say? Nothing. You're going to say? I like to talk a lot. Of trash, that's all. Yeah, I do. You spent five minutes saying how wound up I am. And I'm sitting here with that smirk on my face. Are you. Going to hold that against me? No, I'm not going to hold that against you. I love you. I love you too. All right, guys. Zekla Khet for watching and listening. Thank you, guys. Thank you all for joining us today. If you want to follow Islam By Touch, you can follow us on all of our socials, on YouTube, on Instagram, on TikTok, on Twitter, on Facebook. We appreciate. Every single one of you. On Facebook. And on my book. Anyway, he's done. On the internets. I think we're in the yellow pages. Remember those. You can put a billboard somewhere. If you want to get in contact with me, you could just shout outside your window. I'll hear you and I'll be there. Okay, we're done. We are. Done. come back next week and. Join us, we'll be taking you behind the blind. Yes, join us. Next week. What up with the l'Allahu alaihi wa barakhtu. Yo, shut up. Don't take. My out. This is my out, bro. Get out of here with this. You're taking too long. You're taking too long. I'm muting you. That's it. You're done over there. You're done. Now you're muted. No one can hear you anymore. Okay, now you're here again. Hey, you sound weird. All right, guys. Thank you guys for watching and listening and all of the good stuff. And we'll see you next week where we take you behind the blind. Assalammualaikom, warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.*playing outro