[nagdu] nagdu

[Jennifer L Finley]

Ya, I think that it is just that they are concerned about me.  I can tell 
that my grandma does not like the idea of me getting a dog, but I have to 
move on withlife.  I can't do everything that they want me to do.  I had 
someone tell me that I should only think about my self.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tamara Smith-Kinney" <tamara.8024 at comcast.net>
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, February 20, 2010 11:50 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] nagdu


> Jennifer,
>
> Ah.  I think it's cool that you are considering their feelings and trying 
> to
> communicate with them even though you don't live with them.  Also, family
> support never hurts.  /smile/
>
>>From what I've heard and observed, many people are so caught up in the
> "guide dog mystique" that the notion of a real blind person with a real
> guide dog is just too much for them to cope with right away. /smile
>
> The poop always seems to be the first thing to pop into their heads, and 
> the
> association of blind person and dog poop seems pretty hair raising.
> Honestly, I didn't think oh, yay, I get to find poop I can't see!  /grin/
> And, yes, I have stepped in my share with my bare feet, have accidentally
> stuck my hand in it while I was bending down to find it with the bag in my
> other hand, and so on and so on.  It is very yucky, but there's this stuff
> called soap...  /smile/
>
> I have a dog unenthusiast friend who is still traumatized from the time a
> couple of years ago that she came over just as I was cleaning up the 
> results
> of tummy trouble...  She literally ran from the apartment retching, then 
> ran
> back to worry at me while I continued to attack the mess, then she ran out
> retching again.  /lol/  Poor woman!  We're still great friends, but that's
> just how she is.  Quite the chronic worrier, which baffles me since it 
> seems
> awfully stressful, but I try not to worry about it.  /smile/
>
> Anyway, for the people who know blind people who want to get guide dogs, 
> the
> whole poop issue is virtually a classic.  I guess it's understandable, 
> since
> poop is yucky stuff and to suddenly imagine oneself trying to find it and
> pick it up in the dark brings on great feelings of ooginess and distaste.
> It did for me when I first started to planning to get a dog so that I 
> could
> actually have poop to pick up.  /smile/
>
> A lot of people also seem to fret about how a blind person can care for a
> dog, etc., etc.  I've had total strangers stop me so that they could worry
> at me over it.  I just calmly and cheerfully tell them how I do it as if
> it's all perfectly natural -- which it is - and this seems to help them
> accept the notion and move on to other concerns they've never thought of
> before -- vomit, naturally.  What if the dog gets sick?  How do you if the
> dog...? What about...?
>
> Actually, it's a nice opportunity to educate people about blindness, not
> just guide dogs, now that suddenly curious about it.  Really, we cook for
> ourselves.  Yes, blind people often marry each other and maintain clean,
> orderly households and raise children and have jobs...  I've even made 
> some
> pretty cool friends from those poop talks!
>
> Parents and family, of course, are much more emotionally involved in their
> concerns about your potential ability to care for and manage a guide dog.
> That's perfectly natural, even if it does make things difficult for you!
> The best thing you can do, I guess, is to be patient with them and let 
> them
> express their fears and answer in the way you know will tell them you know
> what you're doing and expect to have everything under control.  And so on.
>
> Good luck!  I've always wanted to go to The Seeing Eye in the fall, just
> haven't gotten around to it yet.  I always get a thrill when I know 
> someone
> else who goes, though. /smile/
>
> Tami Smith-Kinney
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Jennifer L Finley
> Sent: Friday, February 19, 2010 3:30 PM
> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [nagdu] nagdu
>
> Hi Lynn this is Jennifer.  To answer your question no I do not live at 
> home
> any more.  It's just that my parents think that I can not handle the
> responsability that comes with a guide dog.  I have a cat, so it's not 
> like
> I can't handle it.  I think that a lot of it is that they do not know how
> guide dogs work.
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