[nagdu] People problems on the bus

Tamara Smith-Kinney tamara.8024 at comcast.net
Wed Nov 25 18:19:44 UTC 2009


Mardi,

Yikes!  I'm sorry I can't think of a solution under the circumstances.  The
driver should be providing assistance to ensure your safety, but that bus
company almost surely won't help you there. Are you getting anywhere legally
with them?

Hmm...  With Mitzi, I decided early on that my best bet was to follow the
"if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" rule and try to train her for controlled
greeting.  So she was still a pup in the socialization phase of training in
preparation to start going out in harness.  We did have some fairly
interesting bus experiences, and I despaired of ever getting her trained for
that environment past all the untraining she was getting from her captive
audience of adoring admirers.  Good grief!  I was still having some balance
issues from muscle spasms that made it hard to step up, step down, sit down,
know where I was...  So it was harrowing just getting on the bus and sitting
down.  But I wasn't depending on her at that point, so it wasn't the total
nightmare it could have been.  Come to think of it, I'm still a bit nervous
at the prospect of getting on or off the bus or train, even though she's
pretty slick at her part of the process these days.

So that's not helpful to you...  Just thinking out loud.  With the logistics
you face having to use the lift -- especially the one that leaves you
separated from your dog -- what you really need is for the driver to do
his/her job.  Or, if that fails, to convince the police to do theirs -- if
there is a law in AZ that covers you at all given the threat to your safety
and that of your dog.  Which the situation does!  Federal hate crimes
legislation was recently expanded to cover disabilities...  I don't know if
that's helpful.  I will leave consideration of that to better minds than
mine!  But your being in a wheelchair seems to be a big part of the
eagerness of others to discount and dehumanize you.  That's infuriating and
disgusting, but those attitudes still exist.

Well, I'm with you in thought and spirit, even if I can't offer solutions.
Do you know of any large and menacing human males who could spend some time
traveling with you and glowering about at the idiots who can't behave
themselves?  /grin/  Well, I'm not entirely kidding.  People who see the
blind woman in the wheelchair as a nonperson will respond psychologically to
the alpha male act with as little reason.  It's instinct.  My roommate, who
physically fits the stereotype, just has to cross his arms and look
thoughtful to convince people to straighten up and pay attention!  /lol/
Little do they know he's a hopeless softie!  Just ask Mitzi and Daisy.
/grin/

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Mardi Hadfield
Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 4:49 PM
To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nagdu] People problems on the bus

Hi every one, I have been having a lot of problems with people on the bus.
So many people have petted Shaman the he just goes right up to people to be
petted. To day when I got on the bus,It was a short lift so the dog goes up
first and waits for me to come up on the lift. Any way I have him on a long
leash and the minute he gets on the bus, the hands reach out and pet
him.With the long leash, I have little control other that the fact the
Shaman is attatched to my hand.By the time I get up on the bus and try to
get into the wheelchair bay Shaman is making the rounds to every one to be
petted. No matter what I say to people, they just totally ignore me. I had
to ride backwards in the bay because I could not turn my chair around
because the dog would not back up for me. I tried voice corrections and then
resorted to leash corrections.People were yelling at me that I was being
cruel to my dog.I am afraid I will run over Shaman's Foot again, because he
is not paying attention to me. This problem is just getting worse. I hate to
go out any more because people won't leave my dog alone, and correcting him
doesn't work and only gets criticism. Nala pretty much ignored people that
petted her and did her job. She never had the distraction problems that
Shaman seems to have. I have tried using a sign on the harness handle but
people ignored it. Some people pet my dog just to annoy me as they are the
same people that I have asked repeatedly to please not pet my dog. Does any
one have any ideas?    Mardi and Shaman and Nala,retired.

-- 
http://wolfsinger-lakota.blogspot.com/
http://wolfsinger2-thegoldendragon.blogspot.com
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