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Changing Hawaii
APRIL 15. The mere mention of that dreaded deadline is enough to start a cold sweat. See what blind
worker at IRS can doWith less than two months left to file 1999 income taxes, dutiful Oahuans are visiting the IRS office on the ground floor of the Federal Building to pick up forms, respond to "Dear Taxpayer" letters or simply ask for help.
If they have questions, they must take a number and wait. When they're called up to one of the four customer service windows, they might meet Cynthia Hirakawa.
For the past three years, this IRS veteran has staffed the desk with polite competency. She has 26 years of service, including two long decades of answering queries on the phone, and the most seniority in the office.
It's obvious from watching and listening to her interact with clients that she knows everything you ever wanted to know about taxes but were afraid to ask.
Yet the 50-year-old taxpayer service specialist is unique in another way: Cynthia cannot see any of the walk-ins she counsels because she is blind.
In fact, she is the only blind IRS employee in Hawaii and one of the few in the nation who helps the public on a daily, face-to-face basis, says her boss, Rebecca Nadler.
"Cynthia has a lot of technical knowledge and can answer highly specialized questions," says Nadler, who expresses respect for her handicapped but unhindered worker.
Taxpayers who appear before Cynthia are similarly impressed. "Without even looking at my forms, she used her abacus and within a few minutes had saved me a considerable amount of money on my taxes," wrote Robert Lowe in a glowing letter to the editor.
How does Cynthia do it five days a week, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.? She uses specialized equipment for the blind, relies on her other senses and depends on capable colleagues:
She has a BrailleLite (a notebook computer), braille printer and a special PC outfitted with a braille display and voice synthesizer to access the IRS network, take notes, receive email and read printed documents.
FOR the most part, taxpayer reaction to a blind IRS service rep has been polite, but there are exceptions. Occasionally someone looks at her, realizes that she is blind and says bluntly, "I want someone with sight."
Sometimes she tries to convince these folks that she is quite capable of taking care of them. However, Cynthia understands the reticence of, say, senior citizens who can't read the numbers on the forms either and lets another clerk wait on them.
"The main thing is to get their questions answered. The best part of the job is when they find out they have less taxes to pay, and they're so happy," she says. "I'm just trying to do the best I can for what I'm paid to do."
Clearly, anyone can see that.
Diane Yukihiro Chang's column runs Monday and Friday.
She can be reached by phone at 525-8607, via e-mail at
dchang@starbulletin.com, or by fax at 523-7863.