Blind Guy Buys iMac with Help from One-Handed, Cannabis-Smoking Apple Staffers

Austin Seraphin is a guy who wrote a truly moving story about learning to see via his iPhone. “I consider it the greatest thing to happen to the blind for a very long time, possibly ever,” the visually-impaired Austin wrote back in June. Most recently, he got an iMac, and he’s just as satisfied with this purchase as well.

In one of his recent blog posts, Seraphin reveals that during a second visit to his local Apple Retail Store with the purpose of buying a Mac (mostly for VoiceOver) and some audio gear, he had at least a couple of strange experiences.

One of them involved a staffer with quite an over-developed sense of humor who… well, let’s leave it to Austin to relate how the events unfolded:

"'Wait, before we start, what do you think this is?' he asked. He held up a thing that looked like some sort of powerful wrench.

It would come in handy for smashing problematic hardware, and I wondered why someone would wield such a device in an Apple store. I felt up the wrench, however, and felt it join with his arm.

I figured he must hold the other end, and didn’t want to impose, so stopped feeling the thing in question. “Um, some kind of wrench? Or pliers or something?” I guessed.

'Naw man! That’s my hand!' 'Wow.' 'I have an artificial hand. I only have one arm.' After getting over the slight shock of what I had just felt, we fell into a friendly conversation about using computers with a disability.

Ok, so far so good. Austin was getting help not just from this Apple staffer, but others as well, each making a contribution to drawing a realistic picture of the products they were there to sell.

“While I enjoyed talking to everyone, I really wanted to just buy my beautiful iMac and get it home to start playing with it,” Austin admits, in his recent blog post.

“I started asking questions about Audio and everyone told me i had to talk to Mike. You have to talk to Mike. Oh yes, Mike knows his audio. You have to talk to Mike,” he relates.

“I think I did for a few minutes, but he had another appointment, and he introduced me to another guy,” Austin continues, and proceeds to reveal his second noteworthy experience at the local Apple Retail Store.

“As we talked about MIDI controllers, I couldn’t help but notice the distinct smell of freshly smoked cannabis upon his breath. Perfect!”, he wrote.

After buying everything he needed, Austin headed for the door walked off by “the dude with one arm” who remained close to him through the entire process.

“…we walked and talked on the way to the front of the store. I again mentioned my enthusiasm for Apple’s commitment to accessibility, and said I wanted to get involved somehow,” writes Austin.

“He gave me a helpful tip: take the one-on-one training just to meet the managers and other people, get your foot in the door that way.”

“That sort of networking stuff doesn’t come naturally to me, so I welcomed the suggestion. We said our good byes, and finally, finally, finally I had purchased my iMac, Apple Care, one-on-one training, a long keyboard, magic trackpad, and MIDI keyboard. I felt satisfied,” the blog post reads.

Here’s Austin’s post on how the iPhone changed his life forever, and here’s the one we’ve been poking at today.