Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!snorkelwacker!usc!cs.utexas.edu!yale!bunker!hcap!hnews!129!89.0!Maggi.Weslager
From: Maggi.Weslager@p0.f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org (Maggi Weslager)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Message-ID: <12772@bunker.UUCP>
Date: 17 Jul 90 19:29:09 GMT
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Index Number: 9169

[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

     
 TG> because of the dog.  Then about twenty minutes later they did 
 TG> find someone who would sit with her but by that time she was 
 TG> very upset and decided not to take the trip. 

I know this is easier said than done...this woman should have gathered
up all of the courage and patience she could mustard and stood her
ground.  We must also consider the reputation of this woman as a guide
dog user.  I've been using a dog guide for a relavently short period of
time<one and a half years> and over that time of course my perspective
has changed towards guide dog users and the uneducated public.

 TG> Okay, here is the problem, should she have stayed on the bus 
 TG> for the 27 hours with people who did not want her or should she 
 TG> have saidd alright and stayed home?

That's a tough qwestion to answer.  I've only run into two "rejection
situations" as a guide dog user and both times turned out well.
Legally, this woman had every right to take her dog on that bus and as
for the opinions of the other bus riders...well, it's up to dog users to
educate and inform and also maintain a consistency in behavior.  Would I
have gotten off that bus?  One part of me says yes because I wouldn't
want to spend that much time with an unaccepting  crowd.  Another part of
me would say, "Yes, I'm staying on this bus and show all of you a-holes
just how well my dog and I work.  Again, patience and tolerance are
definitely virtues that have been enhanced for me because of my use of
my dog.

     
     

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