<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body>
<p>Hi, Julie!</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Congratulations on getting your new pup.</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>I'm sorry I have noting to add concerning these denials except an
extra measure of rage.</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Best!</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Al</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 4/8/25 21:34, Julie A. Orozco via
NAGDU wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:035201dba8ef$82262670$86727350$@gmail.com">
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<meta name="Generator"
content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)">
<style>@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}@font-face
{font-family:Aptos;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif;
mso-ligatures:standardcontextual;}span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif;
color:windowtext;}.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;}div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}</style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
<div class="WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Good evening
fellow guide dog users,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">I hope all
of you are doing well. I am *<b>finally</b>* working my
third guide dog, a male chocolate lab from The Seeing Eye,
called Xavier. He\u2019s a wonderful dog and a joy to work. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Of course,
working a dog brings about the inevitable Uber denials. I\u2019ve
gotten three so far, and we\u2019ve only been home a couple of
weeks. (Uber and Lyft are really terrible in the DC area.) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">For some
reason, Sunday was just a bad day for me and Uber. I have
self ID turned on, so drivers should be notified when they
arrive that they are picking up someone with a service
animal and that they are required by law to allow us in
their car. At least, that was my understanding. But these
drivers seem unable to understand the self ID notification.
Either that, or they are not being notified properly. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">I had three
drivers on Sunday going to and from a friend\u2019s house. The
first driver took me, only when I pointed to my eyes and
told him I was blind and that my dog was working.
(Sometimes, looking blind has its advantages.) He did not
understand when I asked him if the app told him I was
traveling with a service animal. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">The second
driver, the one who was set to take me home, refused us
access. He did not speak English, but even when my friend
and I pulled out Google translate, he would not budge. He
said no dogs in his car and even canceled the ride. I am not
sure if he received the notification, but he seemed totally
clueless about the whole service animal thing. I don\u2019t think
he was faking it either because if so, he wouldn\u2019t have
wanted to cancel the ride himself. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">The third
driver didn\u2019t want to take me at first either. I had to
explain to him what my dog was for, and once I did, he got
it. I asked him if he received the notification, and he said
yes but that he didn\u2019t get a chance to read it. He said he
could just get passed it without reading it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">So, my
questions follow. Are drivers being notified and trained
about their requirements under law to take service animal
teams in their language of choice? Second, what does the
notification system look like? I imagined something that
would pop up and force them to read before proceeding with
the trip. How are so many of my drivers seeming confused
about me and my guide dog? Is this still happening to anyone
else? Or do I live in the land of Uber access denials? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">I was
hesitant about self ID, but I am happy with it because it
doesn\u2019t alert the drivers until they arrive. It\u2019s like Uber
telling them for me when I\u2019m right there that the driver has
to follow the law and take me with my service animal. But
it\u2019s not effective if drivers can just ignore the
notifications. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Apologies
for the long email, and thank you for any perspective you
can provide.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Julie<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</div>
<br>
<fieldset class="moz-mime-attachment-header"></fieldset>
<pre wrap="" class="moz-quote-pre">_______________________________________________
NAGDU mailing list
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:NAGDU@nfbnet.org">NAGDU@nfbnet.org</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org">http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org</a>
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for NAGDU:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/albert.e.sten_clanton%40verizon.net">http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/albert.e.sten_clanton%40verizon.net</a>
</pre>
</blockquote>
</body>
</html>