[img width=696]//7ca49eb9f67ba1319ef136f9d52cd8b8.cdn.bubble.io/f1716323983145x126845893416349000/richtext_content.jpeg[/img] [b]Don't pity him; just listen to his music[/b] It's a beautiful day. The kind of day when the sun and a gentle breeze conspire to ridicule all of the world's problems. It's a shame Kim Cote is blind. Does he know that a bird is beautiful? You really shouldn't think that way. Even though he's still a stranger, you've been warned that Kim doesn't share his life with sympathy. "I see you use Sony tapes. They do a good job." Somebody must have told him. But, what the heck, there's nobody else. there but the two of you. "I could tell by the sound of the click when you put the cassette in the recorder." Kim's message was clear. He's telling you that you are about to interview Kim Cote - a man, a father, a human. If you want to interview a blind man, then you best pack up your tape recorder and leave. Still not convinced? Listen to his biography. His blindness is total, and has been since birth. He finished high school and then ignored several opportunities for a university education in favor of a career in music. He's lead singer in the Calgary rock group "Lickin' Stick," plays 10 different instruments, and is music director of the group. He's written 28 songs, none of them published, but that doesn't matter much. A couple of months ago he got married. That was the finest day of his life and he entered the next with a beautiful wife and three excited stepsons. Kim Cote is 21. "I have visions of things. If you mention horse, then I see a horse. I know it's not right, but I see it." But describe a zebra as a horse with stripes on it and Kim becomes confused. "You see, I'm not sure what stripes are." As a youngster Kim was aggressive and showed everyone right from the start what he wanted and expected out of life. "Mom and Dad were different than the parents of most blind children. They just let me be to live my life." A woman once asked Kim if he had considered the miracle of transplanting a complete eye, and then waking for the first time to discover he had sight. "I'm not sure my mind could take it. It would be such a super shock to come out and see everything all at once. "But if I could have sight, then I want to see everything-the good and bad. People sometimes tell me that I'm lucky that I am blind and can't see some of the world's ugliness. "I'm a realist. I don't think in terms of one or two nice things to see. I know what the world is." He also knows what irritates him. "I don't like being classed." You know - Jim the butcher, Jack the banker and Kim the blind man. "There are things I can't do, but then I don't know of anyone who can do everything. "There have been a lot of things that I'm not suppose to do, and probably won't try again. But I tried - like driving a car." And he is infuriated by the whimpering sympathy that sighted strangers pass his way. "Like walking down the street. with my sons and hearing somebody say: 'Isn't that a pity. He's blind and has two normal boys!" "The only way to do good in this world is to observe and act like your fellow man. Never use your blind- ness to get something. Recognize and use your abilities. Even the most handicapped person has something he can get going for him." Kim said it is easier for him to relate with the sighted than with the blind. "Some blind people really get to me. They just sit around waiting for somebody to operate their lives. I may not be successful yet, but I'm getting there. "I have never used my blindness as an excuse, and it irritates me when others use it as an excuse for me." And in conclusion: "I'm not out to change the world. I just want to make sure that I fit into it."
