[nagdu] But so and so lets me pet their dog!

[Chasity Jackson]

Yesterday, a friend and I were waiting for a cab at the grocery store. Apparently the cabby who showed up had driven for us before. He apparently remembered my dog's name. So, while she's still working, and while she's actually walking and guiding me, he sticks his hand out in front of her and says, "Hey Hadley, how ya been?" And starts to pet her. I moved her away from him and said, "I'm sorry, but she's working." And he got defensive right away and said, "But so and so has no problem letting me pet her dog when it's working. What's the big deal?" And when I explained that it interfered with her performance and that it was a big distraction, he continued to be defensive, because his model guide dog team is so and so and her dog. Well, I happen to know the person he's talking about, and I happen to know that she is not at all disciplined in caring for her dog. She lets her dog have table scraps, and tells her dog to speak in public and gives it human food treats. So go figure. LOL. But he just couldn't figure out why I was being so unfair about the situation, after all, if she did it, what was the harm in it. And what was even more funny was that he actually tried to pull a stupid stunt to get an extra tip. He said, "Well, so and so tips me herself, and then she's cute about it and gives me an additional tip from the dog too. She gave me an extra dollar tip yesterday from her dog." And I thought, well, don't hold your breath. LOL. 

A few weeks back, a similar incident happened with another cab driver, but it didn't involve petting. It was the beginning of February, and we had some snow and ice on the ground. I was at the top of my porch, about to head down the stairs. This cab driver clapped his hands, whistles to my dog and says, "Come on," and she starts to get excited and go toward him. Had I not been holding onto the rail, I would have easily  fallen down the stairs. So I told him, "Please don't call her. She shouldn't be listening to commands from other people. She's only supposed to follow the directions I give to her. And again, he got very defensive, and said, "I was only trying to show her the way." And I said, "You're not supposed to show her the way. If you insist on helping, you can tell me which direction you are in and I will give her the command to go in that direction. What enraged me more regarding this incident was that later, I talked to my dad, and in frustration, I told him about it. My parents are not exactly the brightest when it comes to guide dogs versus pets, and although they understand quite a bit from me, sometimes they don't have the brightest things to say. So my dad says, "Oh Well, get over it. That's life. Some people are dog lovers and you have to expect that." And then when I said, "I could have fallen," or, "What if she did that while I was crossing the street," my dad just said, that's life, people are dog lovers, s**t happens."