Blind People vs. American Paper Money

This is fascinating to me, and it’s something I’ve always wondered about. Here in the United States, all of our paper money is exactly the same except for the printing on the paper. So, how would a person who is blind distinguish between, for example, a one dollar bill and a one hundred dollar bill? When I was in high school, there was a blind woman who worked in the cafeteria. Her job was to take the money from the students who were purchasing lunch. She was fast and efficient, and even though she was completely blind, she knew what bills students gave her. Every now and then she would ask someone for help, but most of the time, she figured it out for herself. I have no idea how she did that.

In this insightful video called Blind Man vs. Paper Money, blind film critic Tommy Edison explains exactly how he, as a visually impaired person, works this out. He admits that he gets ripped off every now and then, and that’s just part of life. However, he calls anyone who would steal from a blind person a lazy crook. I also wonder when (if ever) our country is going to change the paper money so that each bill can be distinguished from the others. In Canada, they have little bumps on the paper money, which allows someone with vision challenges to be able to feel the difference. I really don’t understand why we don’t have something like that in place here.

Via: [Presurfer]