[NAGDU] Malls

[Chaim B. Segal]

 Hi List:

I have been nomail on here for a long time, but decided back in February that I really have to be in the know concerning what is happening within the Guide Dog Community. I am backlogged on digests, and have reached the thread concerning malls. Personally, I prefer indoor malls over outdoor ones, because it seems to me that the outdoor ones have been more-or-less set up to accommodate the needs of drivers. I am uncomfortable navigating through large parking lot spaces.
While I feel a person should be as independent as possible, I also feel that each one of us needs to do what works best. At this point in time, my wife and I do not have that many sighted people to depend on on a regular basis. Even if we did, I would probably try my best to handle as many of my own affairs as possible independently. This being said, Uber and Lyft have been a God-send here in the Greater Dayton Ohio Metropolitan area.
When it comes to navigating malls, I usually have our transit system bus driver drop me (or us) at a particular store where we need to run errands. Should we (or I by myself) need to shop at another store or run and errand elsewhere in the mall when we are finished at the first one, I have one of the managers call mall security to send an escort out for help. If I visited the mall on a constant basis, perhaps I could learn where the stores are. Actually, there is a miniature mall not far from us where we do buy pet food on a regular basis. Trader Joe's, where I shop for Kosher meat is also located there. As long as it is not highly crowded, I can maneuver through there pretty well with Yahtzee. However, in a bigger mall, I would rather be escorted to a particular store I am looking for, rather than try to fennaggle by myself, where along the way either Yahtzee will inevitably seek out a dog lover, attempt to grab an illegal treat which somebody dropped, scare a phobic person, or all three. Sometimes, I do ask at one store where another is located, but you would be surprised to find how many people work at malls who don't necessarily know about other businesses therein. 
Unfortunately, it seems that the era of indoor malls may be ending. Here in Dayton, the main mall my parents and I shopped at when I was young closed down primarily due to vandalism and to a lesser extent, loss of business. Over the past few months, our second mall just lost Sears and another one of its anchor stores. 
Not to stray too much off topic, I had heard of Ira before on this list and a few other blind-related lists, but did not understand what it was. While I see Cindy's point in curtailing the discussion, I will say that I was finally able to glean more usable information about it. I would like to talk to some users of it off list, though if it is as expensive as people say it is, I probably cannot afford it for now. I have to confess, my views may differ a bit from traditional ones held by the Federation at large regarding categorizing our technology. While I understand and agree that blindness should not be thought of as a medical condition, I don't think it would hurt anything if those of us with less money could use Medicare and or other forms of medical insurance to help defray the costs of some technology. From what I have heard, deaf individuals can get hearing aids paid for through Medicaid.
To return to the subject of guide dogs, let me just make a belated announcement that Yahtzee, my fourth Seeing Eye Dog, turned 9 years old last December 22nd. That will be part of the subject of my next message. Stay tuned.

Chaim