[nagdu] Training Hotel Staff

[Margo and Arrow]

Julie, yep, I agree.  Because of possible cultural influences, I found
myself educating some staff about blind folks.  Many of them were amazed we
did not have caretakers in our rooms with us; that we could live in the
hotel rooms by ourselves and we could travel.  Please, everyone, I am not
complaining at all and I did not mind educating folks and they were
absolutely wonderful people and I got to know some staff by name and hope to
see them again next year.  

Anyway, I think that NFB and Nagdu need to take cultural diversity into
account a bit more.

Margo and Arrow



-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Julie McGinnity
Sent: Sunday, July 14, 2013 6:42 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Training Hotel Staff

Margo, I agree completely.  I noticed many people at this convention who
were directed to go to either the pet area or on the grass.  Very strange
since they don't want dogs relieving on their lawns.

I noticed at this hotel the language barrier was a particular issue.
I had to repeat several times to a hotel employee that I did not need help
before he understood.  One of the hotel staff also grabbed at my dog's leash
in an attempt to guide me when I was going the wrong way.
This is only my fourth convention, but one of the things I usually love
about convention is that this doesn't happen.  Usually, the NFB trains the
employees about how to work with blind people.  I wonder what happened this
year.

On 7/14/13, Margo and Arrow <margo.downey at verizon.net> wrote:
> I know we're having the feedback call this evening but want us to look 
> at the training of hotel staff.  Some people were asked the questions 
> one would ask according to the hotel's pet policy and apparently some 
> staff did not realize or understand what was meant by service or guide 
> dog.  I contacted two hotel managers about all of this while we were 
> there.  Staff were asking what breed the dog was and how big and the 
> weight.  The managers understood that these were irrelevant questions 
> and promised to talk with staff.
> Also,
> one person was told that those of us with big dogs would only be able 
> to stay on the second or third floors which was the pet policy.  That 
> must have been corrected.  Also, even after our relief areas were set 
> up, staff were occasionally sending folks to the pet relief area only.
>
> There needs to be omore consistency there and understanding by staff.  
> I think, too, there might have been some cultural and/or language 
> misunderstandings.
>
> There was also an incident when housekeeping knocked on our door and 
> we had our dogs on leashes and the housekeeping staff member didn't 
> look but loudly proclaimed that we needed to have our animals on leash 
> or crated.  Okay, that's fine but both guide dogs were on leash and we 
> were holding the leashes and we were close enough for her to see that 
> that was so.
>
> I'm thinking NAGDU might need to monitor the understanding hotel 
> staffs have regarding service dogs.
>
> Margo and Arrow
>
>
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--
Julie McG
National Association of Guide dog Users board member,  National Federation
of the Blind performing arts division secretary, Missouri Association of
Guide dog Users President, and Guiding Eyes for the Blind graduate 2008 "For
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who
believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life."
John 3:16

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