[nagdu] Consumer or Beneficiary?

[Tami Kinney]

Marion, and all,

So I've been thinking of this general subject for quite a while, as it 
relates to various areas where "services" are provided to a specific 
population by a specific organization.

So with the guide dog training programs. I think of them in that 
terminology, because that appears to me to be what they exist to do. 
Train guide dogs.

Also, they are non profit organizations. They are funded by outside 
sources, generally referred to as donors.

The donors provide money to the guide dog training programs, along with 
dogs and other goods, so that the guide dog training program will then 
provide trained guide dogs to blind guide dog users.

The guide dog training programs are not giving us a gosh darn thing. 
They are middlemen. The individual employees of any given program are 
being paid to do specific jobs toward the end of producing trained guide 
dogs for the benefit of blind guide dog users according to the wishes of 
the people who donate the money for them to use and to be paid from in 
doing that.

So if I apply to a guide dog training program -- or programs -- when it 
is time for me to seek a new guide dog, then I don't care what they want 
to call me. In my own profession, the terminology is client/server, so 
that is how I think of the relationship or any relationship of a 
business type. When I am an employee of a company, that company would be 
legally called my employer. I think of that company as my client. My 
boss is my client. If my work involves doing projects for the benefit of 
other departments, those departments are my clients. If another employee 
is being paid to provide information, reports, office supplies, you have 
it to me so that I may serve my clients, then I am their client. I 
expect them to do their jobs for me in that relationship as I expect 
myself to do mine for my clients, whoever that may be depending on the 
project. If I'm in business for myself, the legal relationship is 
contractor/client. The words change, but the relationship does not.

So I see guide dog training programs, VR agencies, public 
transportation, the library, whatever. The one who pays for and uses the 
services is the client. Call it what you will, in my line of work, 
that's what it's called. The provider of the services is the server. 
They serve the client. They are paid to do that.

Needless to say, my VR agency up to and through the administration 
doesn't like me much. /grin/ Some guide dog programs would not like me 
much either. Do I care? No! They are paid to provide a service to me. If 
it is a taxpayer funded service, I have already paid for it and am 
continuing to. In the case of a guide dog training program, the gift for 
which I am grateful comes from outside the organization doing the work 
to serve up that product/service to me. I expect the employees to do 
their jobs for me, as for every other individual who seeks and receives 
those services.

Dunno... Do you think the programs and agencies are ready to call us all 
"Boss"? /lol/

Tami

On 01/02/2012 09:56 AM, Marion Gwizdala wrote:
> The terminology to which I am referring is to describe the relationship
> between the blind person and the training program. You will notice that
> I am even avoiding using the terms "student" and School", as there is
> still an imbalanced relationship in this terminology. The purpose of
> this discussion is an attempt to shift the manner in which we perceive
> this relationship away from that of a beneficiary.
>
> Fraternally yours,
> Marion Gwizdala
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "William Vandervest"
> <timelord09 at att.net>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Monday, January 02, 2012 12:39 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Consumer or Beneficiary?
>
>
>> Larry, i agree, i would prefer to be called a partner as Lynard and i
>> are a team, if i remember correctly, at Leader, we were usually called
>> clients of the school, and with our dogs we were teams
>> William And LD Lynard
>>
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