John Robinson, a 1990 Syracuse University alumnus, went to a party at a Marshall Street bar one night during his four years at the university. He was in line to leave when a girl in line behind him began scanning him up and down.

‘If you would get off your knees, this line would move faster,’ she shouted.

Robinson, a congenital amputee who stands at 3 feet 8 inches, was not on his knees. He was born without arms past his elbows or legs past his knees. While his friends laughed at the girl the whole way home, Robinson had an epiphany.

‘The truth is, I did have to get off my knees,’ Robinson said. ‘That was the moment where I realized it’s time to stop asking for things and time to start going and getting them. Getting off my knees means to me hard work, it means be well-educated, it means be a good career person, and most importantly be a good family person for my wife and my children.’

Robinson spoke to about 70 people Friday at 4 p.m. in room 434 of Newhouse III. Afterward he answered audience questions and signed copies of his book, ‘Get Off Your Knees.’ A television documentary of the same name telling Robinson’s story aired Sunday on Syracuse television station WCNY.

The book, published by SU Press, is the fall season’s best seller and has already sold 820 copies in its first week, three times more than an average SU Press book sells in its first week, said Alice Pfeiffer, director of SU Press.

The goal of Robinson’s speech was to shatter the audience’s first impression of him by showing them that he is comfortable with his appearance, he said. He said he wanted to show that he is more than his appearance and that he did not allow his disability to be an obstacle.

‘Recently, I’ve had people that have said ‘John, you have a story. You should share it.’ People want to know. I think people are craving positive stories. It isn’t what I naturally wanted to do, but I do hope that you take from this or if you see the documentary or, most importantly, if you read the book, you take that those obstacles are only there if you allow them to be. They do present opportunities in the future.’

Robinson has faced many obstacles being a congenital amputee. He did not learn how to dress himself until he was 17 years old and about to leave home for college. It took four years and hundreds of job applications before he was hired for his first job out of college. Even after he got his first job, his physical appearance hindered his ability to move up the career ladder, he said.

Five years after starting at NewsChannel 9 WSYR, Robinson applied to a television station in Virginia. He got to the interview stage of the application process, but as soon as the interviewer saw Robinson, it was over, he said.

‘That person was so uncomfortable, the first impression went so poorly, that there was no chance I was ever going to get that job,’ Robinson said.

He said for a long time he was not comfortable talking about himself and did not originally want to write a book or make a documentary.

But Robinson was able to overcome all those obstacles and more. He said he was able to by becoming comfortable with himself.

‘If there’s obstacles out there, and you’re bothered by the papers you have to write or tests that you have to grade, or you’re bothered by the people that you like or that you don’t like, you can focus on that, or can you focus on the opportunity it presents for you and your future,’ he said.

Robinson’s anecdotes of overcoming difficulties inspired audience members. Brian Field, an undeclared freshman in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, said he only came to the speech because his dad wanted to as part of Family Weekend activities. But, he walked away from the speech with a more optimistic viewpoint.

‘I’m a freshman and it puts the transition that I’m going through in perspective. If he could do it, then obviously I should be able to do it,’ Field said. ‘It was a reality check for me.’

rhkheel@syr.edu

Published on October 25, 2009 at 12:00 pm