Tweet
forum.......
video.......
video.......
"Intimidator" from Jim Quattrocki on Vimeo.
My cousin Bart Hickey never had sight and never had a beef about anything. His father, Bart Hickey, trained his blind son to fend for himself - " Take out the garbage and then vacuum the basement." I remember watching my tall, tough Marine Korean War sergeant uncle with tears in his eyes, while chuckling with pride as Bartie stumbled with an arm-load of trash out to the alley at 85th & Wolcott.
Watch this video - Bart's brother Brian helped Bart name his automotive business - yes, Bart is a blind garage mechanic. " Bart's Automotive and Towing -Yeah, you know! Blind as a Bat." Bat is often used by the Irish in place of Bart or Bartholomew. Bat or Bateen.
Film maker Jim Quattrocki did this sweet video. Sweet as in nice; not like my son Conor terms something or circumstance to be 'sweet' meaning his full approval. That is for your determination.
Huge Hat tip cousins Deirdre and John.
My cousin Bart Hickey never had sight and never had a beef about anything. His father, Bart Hickey, trained his blind son to fend for himself - " Take out the garbage and then vacuum the basement." I remember watching my tall, tough Marine Korean War sergeant uncle with tears in his eyes, while chuckling with pride as Bartie stumbled with an arm-load of trash out to the alley at 85th & Wolcott.
Watch this video - Bart's brother Brian helped Bart name his automotive business - yes, Bart is a blind garage mechanic. " Bart's Automotive and Towing -Yeah, you know! Blind as a Bat." Bat is often used by the Irish in place of Bart or Bartholomew. Bat or Bateen.
Film maker Jim Quattrocki did this sweet video. Sweet as in nice; not like my son Conor terms something or circumstance to be 'sweet' meaning his full approval. That is for your determination.
Huge Hat tip cousins Deirdre and John.
Anyone who has ever wrenched on an automobile knows that for the most part you utilize your five senses. For instance you can smell if your oil or transmission fluid is cooked. Your sense of touch allows you to feel if a part is broken and your hearing will clue you in as to whether an engine is not running properly. What if you could do all of these things but in the end you couldn’t actually SEE what you were working on. Might make things difficult right? For most of us, yes, working on a car without sight would seem almost impossible, but for Bart Hickey of B.A.T. Automotive in Alsip, Illinois, it’s just business as usual. His issues of Popular Mechanics are in braille as are his customer information cards. What Bart Hickey does on a day to day basis is remarkable, yet he’s worried about the newer technology in automobiles as the equipment to diagnose them is to expensive for small shops such as his to purchase. He talks about his 1969 Dodge Dart, his Dad’s old 1951 Pontiac Chieftain and how his folks never let him use his blindness as a crutch. For us, this short video is both amazing and inspiring, for Bart Hickey though it’s just another day at the office.
1 comments:
liz hickey said...
thanks for spreading this around, my dad really is an everyday hero and it means a lot to our family<3
liz hickey said...
thanks for spreading this around, my dad really is an everyday hero and it means a lot to our family<3
posted by ethnomethodologist at 4:02 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]
Awesome. I'm a parts guy, been one for nearly 20 years, although now I'm on the corporate end of things, but I remember when I was a kid working behind the counter we had one old guy who came in the store about once a week who'd been a sonar operator on a US Navy sub in WWII and afterwards, and the radiation from the CRTs (or whatever) they used had killed his eyesight to the point that he could see light and dark, but that was about it. He had an early-60's Thunderbird, and when he came in (with his son driving/guiding) looking for something, we'd unbox it and hand it to him. He always seemed to know whether it was the right part or not just by the feel of it.
His son said it was the damndest thing he'd ever seen the way his dad wrenched away on that old T-bird in a pitch black garage, but obviously he did ok, they'd drive the car into town every now and then, and it was obviously well kept. Good post.
Awesome. I'm a parts guy, been one for nearly 20 years, although now I'm on the corporate end of things, but I remember when I was a kid working behind the counter we had one old guy who came in the store about once a week who'd been a sonar operator on a US Navy sub in WWII and afterwards, and the radiation from the CRTs (or whatever) they used had killed his eyesight to the point that he could see light and dark, but that was about it. He had an early-60's Thunderbird, and when he came in (with his son driving/guiding) looking for something, we'd unbox it and hand it to him. He always seemed to know whether it was the right part or not just by the feel of it.
His son said it was the damndest thing he'd ever seen the way his dad wrenched away on that old T-bird in a pitch black garage, but obviously he did ok, they'd drive the car into town every now and then, and it was obviously well kept. Good post.
Comment