[nagdu] Questions about Federal regs regarding paratransit

[Angie Matney]

Hi Marion,

I was lucky; the flight attendant didn't argue with me. I believe this was when I was flying back from Logan Airport in Boston. There was a storm, and I spent quite a few hours there in the airport before the plane finally left at around 10:30 at 
night. In retrospect, I should have done something about that obnoxious gate agent. But I was just so, so happy to be getting out of there! LOL! And I had to move the next day, so I kind of forgot about it.

Angie

On Sat, 24 Jan 2009 06:39:27 -0500, Marion & Martin wrote:

>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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