<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 12 (filtered medium)"><style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Helvetica;
panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Tahoma;
panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#0563C1;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#954F72;
text-decoration:underline;}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:windowtext;}
span.EmailStyle18
{mso-style-type:personal-reply;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-size:10.0pt;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
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]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>That’s sad. The employee honestly didn’t know and she apologized. People ought to let it go.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Kaye<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> WASAGDU [mailto:wasagdu-bounces@nfbnet.org] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Becky Frankeberger via WASAGDU<br><b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, October 28, 2015 10:06 AM<br><b>To:</b> 'Washington Association of Guide Dog Users'<br><b>Cc:</b> Becky Frankeberger<br><b>Subject:</b> [Wasagdu] When social media goes stupid<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Social media can be a real problem, grumble, or it can be a blessing. Before you get all hot and bothered, stop and think first before you post.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'> BEREA, Ohio – A Baldwin Wallace College student who is blind said she<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4143">was told to leave popular Dick’s Bakery in Berea because of her guide<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4144">dog, and the<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4145">incident has fueled angry comments on social media.<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4146"><br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4147">Sophomore Gabriella Drago, 19, keeps her guide dog Freesia by her side<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4148">at all times, including during a stop for a donut with a friend at<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4149">Dick’s Bakery<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4150">Monday. She said bakery employee Carol Pearce, 74, told her the dog<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4151">was not permitted inside, even after Gabriella explained that Freesia<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4152">is a service<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4153">dog, and it is illegal to ban the dog from the business.<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4154"><br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4155">“At first, it was really shocking because that's never really happened<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4156">to me before,” Gabriella told Fox 8 News. “I wasn’t sure how to<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4157">handle it… There<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4158">were just a lot of emotions. It was one of those things where I wasn't<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4159">expecting that to happen.”<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4160"><br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4161">Gabriella’s father called Pearce to explain the situation afterward,<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4162">who then called Gabriella to apologize.<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4163"><br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4164">“She sounded sincere in her apology. She said I didn’t look like I was<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4165">blind. I’m not sure how a blind person is supposed to look, but I took<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4166">it with a<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4167">grain of salt,” Gabriella said, adding that she accepted the apology.<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4168"><br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4169">Afterward, Gabriella’s mother posted about the incident on Facebook.<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4170">Jaclyn Drago’s post encouraged people to stop patronizing Dick’s<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4171">Bakery and to explain<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4172">the Americans with Disabilities Act laws to Pearce. It went viral and<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4173">was shared nearly 10,000 times within 24 hours. Hundreds of people<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4174">left comments<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4175">of outrage, and many inundated Dick’s Bakery with phone calls and<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4176">negative reviews online.<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4177"><br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4178">Pearce, visibly distraught over the incident, called it a mistake.<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4179"><br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4180">“I could never hurt anybody like that,” she said, with tears in her<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4181">eyes. “I just want to tell you I'm so sorry; I'm so sorry. And there's<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4182">no excuse, but<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4183">believe me from my heart, I'd do anything if I could make that up to [her].”<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4184"><br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4185">Pearce said she has worked at the bakery for 60 years and didn’t<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4186">realize Gabriella was blind. She said she thought the girl was<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4187">“horsing around.”<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4188"><br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4189">“All I saw was a big dog and said, ‘that dog can’t come in here’<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4190">because my boss would kill me, but I didn’t know she was blind,”<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4191">Pearce said. “If they<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4192">want me to quit, I understand. But it definitely was a mistake. It<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4193">wasn’t something I did as a wisecrack, believe me, I’m not that type<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4194">of person.”<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4195"><br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4196">The co-owners of Dick’s Bakery said Pearce’s actions are not<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4197">representative of their business.<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4198"><br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4199">“We have a track record of understanding people with special needs,<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4200">and we stand by that,” co-owner Rick Baker said.<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4201"><br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4202">Baker said Dick’s Bakery embraces people with special needs, including<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4203">an employee and relatives.<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4204"><br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4205">“I'd like to extend our sincere apology to the BW student who felt<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4206">unwelcome here yesterday,” Baker said. “We value our customers, and<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4207">yesterday we fell<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4208">short of that.”<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4209"><br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4210">Bakery co-owner Andy Baker told Fox 8 News that Pearce “will be<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4211">retiring.” A statement posted on Facebook from the bakery Tuesday<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4212">afternoon said she was<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4213">terminated.<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4214"><br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4215">Afterward, the Drago family asked the public to give Dick’s Bakery<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4216">another chance and to stop calling the bakery and writing negative<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4217">reviews. Gabriella’s<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4218">father, Rob Drago, said the incident seemed to be a case of lack of<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4219">education versus intolerance. They also asked that Pearce not be<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4220">fired.<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4221"><br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4222">Gabriella said she just wants businesses to understand that, under<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4223">ADA, service dogs must be allowed anywhere the public is. The only<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4224">questions staff can<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4225">ask when it’s not obvious what service an animal provides are whether<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4226">the dog is a service animal required because of a disability and what<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4227">work the dog<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4228">been has been trained to perform.<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4229"><br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4230">“I definitely don’t want it to reflect incredibly negatively on them<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4231">as a small business,” she said. “I just want it to be something<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4232">they're aware of,<br id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446050569868_4233">with the hope it won’t happen again with their business or any other business.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Becky Frankeberger<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Butterfly Knitting<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in'>-<span style='font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> </span> Ponchos<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in'>-<span style='font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> </span> Afghans<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in'>-<span style='font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> </span> Shawls<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in'>-<span style='font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> </span> Custom Knitting<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>360-426-8389<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="mailto:becky@butterflyknitting.com">becky@butterflyknitting.com</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>