[nagdu] Questions about Federal regs regarding paratransit

[Marion & Martin]

Angie,
    I had a flight attendant tell me the same thing about being a Federal 
regulation that I sit in the bulkhead seat. I told her that I thought I knew 
a little more about my civil rights under the Air Carrier Access Act than 
she did! I further told her that, if she could show me the regulation in 
writing I would be more than happy to comply but, until then, I was staying 
in the seat I was assigned. About fifteen minutes into the flight, another 
attendant came over to apologize to me. I was very gracious with this second 
flight attendant and stated, "You aren't the one that owes me an apology." 
Five minutes later I received an apology from the first flight attendant. I 
replied, "I accept your apology. In the future, though, don't make 
pronouncements you know nothing about. You never know who you are talking 
to!"

Fraternally,
Marion


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Angie Matney" <leadinglabbie at mpmail.net>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 24, 2009 12:48 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Questions about Federal regs regarding paratransit


> Hey Chacity,
>
> Good post. While I do think that, like it or not, people *do* draw 
> impressions about all blind people from how a single one of us behaves, 
> this doesn't mean that we have to inconvenience ourselves in order to 
> avoid making a fus. You stated that you
> had logistical reasons for wanting to stand due to the luggage. It is 
> perfectly reasonable for you to refuse an "accommodation" that you didn't 
> ask for and that would have inconvenienced you. This right is guaranteed 
> us by the ADA.
>
> On one of my last flights, the gate agent informed me that he'd noticed 
> I'd been assigned a window seat, and he'd gone ahead and "fixed" it so 
> that I would get a bulkhead seat. I explained to him that I had reserved 
> that particular seat ahead of
> time. (And let me just add here that figuring out how to do that with JAWS 
> and the seating map on the web site was not easy! So I was especially 
> proud of myself. /grin/) I told him that I wanted him to change my seat 
> back to the one I had reserved.
> He refused. He said that regulations required I sit in the bulkhead. I 
> said that no, they don't, and it's my business to be especially aware of 
> this as a traveler with a disability. He wouldn't change the seating 
> assignment, but fortunately teh flight
> attendant understood the situation, and I was able to take my original 
> seat. I didn't complain about this guy. I sure do wish I had. But it would 
> not have been appropriate for me not to tell him that he was wrong and 
> that I didn't have to sit in the
> bulkhead.<mental note: print up regs next time you fly.>
>
> Again, I'm not suggesting that we have to blast every person who offers us 
> assistance or accommodations we don't need. But we are deserving of 
> respect, and we are entitled to let people know that.
>
>
> On Fri, 23 Jan 2009 15:36:21 -0600, Chasity Jackson wrote:
>
>>Hi Linda,
>
>>No, I don't think I should have smiled and handled it later. I think that,
>>blind or not, we're human, and we have crappy days like the rest of 
>>society.
> <snip>
>
>
>
>
>
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