[NAGDU] A Little Education Goes a Long Way

[Elizabeth Campbell]

Stacie, Thanks for sharing the story, and I"m glad that things went well
with your ride in the end.
I've had similar experiences, and I agree that educating the driver, mixed
with  advocating for our rights as guide dog handlers goes a long way.
Also, happy birthday!!!

Liz

On Sat, Mar 12, 2022 at 7:44 PM Stacie Gallegos via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
wrote:

> Hello All,
>
>
> Today, after celebrating a friend’s birthday, Raul and I decided to forego
> our para-transit   ride, and requested a Lyft; which was going to get us
> home an hour earlier. When the driver arrived, I proceeded to get in the
> car with no issues. When the driver saw Larry, Raul’s guide dog, he began
> apologizing; stating that he couldn’t take dogs in his car. Raul and I both
> begin explaining to him that he did in fact have to transport guide dogs in
> his car, and further informed him that if he didn’t he could face serious
> consequences not only from the Lyft platform, but might also have to deal
> with the police being called. The driver admitted to being afraid of dogs.
> I was in the car, and seat belt fastened. In my mind, there was no way that
> this driver was going to deny us.
> With Raul and Larry finally in the car, our trip began. A few minutes into
> the trip, I could  tell the driver was beginning to relax. Now or never, is
> what was going through my mind. We first thanked the driver for accepting
> us and Larry in  his car, and slowly but surely started educating him. I
> told him that I appreciated his sharing with us his fears, and continued
> assuring him that Larry was well trained, and was not going to harm him.
> When we finally arrived home, the driver mentioned how nice Larry was.
> I’m  sharing this story to illustrate that as guide dog users, we have to
> sometimes do a little bit of educating before we can eliminate
> discrimination. As the subject line says, a little bit of education goes a
> long way., As it turns out, this driver has worked for Lyft for a year and
> a half, and tonight, he transported his first guide dog.
> —
> Stacie Gallegos / President
> National Federation of the Blind Houston Chapter
> (346) 704-0190 | SGallegos at nfbtx.org
>
> "Live the life you want: Blindness is not what holds you back”
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Elizabeth Campbell