[nagdu] An altercation on the bus yesterday

[Steven Johnson]

Jenny,
It might be a good idea to just simply contact the transit company today,
and explain the situation as it appears the bus driver could have taken this
opportunity to educate the passengers a little bit as well.  

Steve


-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Jenny Keller
Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2012 9:02 PM
To: the National Association of Guide Dog Users NAGDU Mailing List
Subject: [nagdu] An altercation on the bus yesterday

I just had to tell you all about what happened on the bus here in Rockford
yesterday.
A guy I knew with a guide dog got on the bus.  There were two wheelchairs on
the bus as well, so he had to walk in between them.  One of the people in a
wheelchair told the guy that he needed to get that dog off the bus because
she had allergies.  the guy told her that his dog was a guide dog and
continued to walk by her.  I was sitting behind her and could feel my temper
rising as she continued to argue with him.

He continued to argue with her too and the bus driver had to tell them both
to quiet down and drop it.  

It took all I could to do not blurt out that the dog had as much right on
the bus as her wheelchair did, but I kept my mouth shut because it wouldn't
have come out in a nice and respectful tone of voice.  I kind of felt like
pot, meet kettle, if you know what I mean, as her wheelchair took up so much
space on the bus.  It angered me so much that someone with a disability that
caused her to use an aid that also causes inconvenience, by taking up three
regular seats on a bus, would make such a huge and loud scene about someone
else with a disability with a dog that he needed to get around with.  You
would think that both people would respect the others needs and ways of
travel and just get along.  

that's why I kept my mouth shut, I knew I wouldn't have handled it properly.
I was beginning to feel a little militant and quite insulted myself as
having been a dog user.  

I told the gentleman to go ahead of me as we exited the bus however, because
I was going to make my statement known if she had said one more word to him.
I had enough of that kind of attitude.  

Maybe I should've said something after all, but I felt my temper flaring and
knew that it would be in a militant and combative tone, so again, I kept my
mouth shut.  Making sure however, that she said nothing to him as he passed
her to exit the bus.  It would have been a mistake on her part to utter one
more word on the subject at that time, cause I was about to let if fly.

Anyway, just thought I'd relay the experience.  In my opinion, that dog was
no different than that chair.  Plain and simple.

Jenny
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