[nagdu] transportation

[Pickrell, Rebecca M (IS)]

Tami has some great points here. 
Another thing to think about, and I'm not saying you're doing this Dar,
but are you a pleasant person to transport? Are you ready on time? Do
you enjoy the company of the people you're with? 
Hubby and I have provided transportation for a few folks, and to put it
bluntly, it sucked. We were treated like a taxi service. One woman
refused to speak to me. I suspect she hada hearing loss, but still. She
could have at least been pleasant. She also wasn't ready on time,
despite me calling her to say "We're on our way". Another time, we
offered to treat a guy to dinner. He refused and then went on about how
busy he was. Then he said "I'm going to go running" and his attitude was
like "Thanks for the ride, suckers!". 
What I'm getting at is be a pleasant person without sacrificing your own
principles and dignity, and things will come together. 
Beyond that, I can't offer any more suggestions. 

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Tamara Smith-Kinney
Sent: Tuesday, June 02, 2009 3:21 PM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Subject: Re: [nagdu] transportation

Dar,

In my early days, in Bend, where drivers rule, there were a few people
who would give rides who would give me all sorts of flack about my cane
and other potential blindness-related damage I might cause their
precious cars.
At the time, I could afford cabs for the most part, if not easily
because they were way more expensive there than here.  I did pay a
driver/shopper for a while, until she started arguing with me over where
to go and what to buy and threatening to leave me if I didn't do as she
said.  Okay...  I just so don't get that one.

My ex was one of the worst offenders, but then he would throw absolute
hissy fits over my spending money on a cab instead of getting a ride
from him or whoever he believed I should just demand rides from willy
nilly.  It was good of him to volunteer them, wasn't it?

So, now he's my ex-husband.  And I stopped taking rides from the "mind
or I will leave you here" driver.  But then I did have the option of
paying for cabs, if I was willing to sacrifice other things I needed
that money for.
After VR, I was too ill to take the bus and would have had to starve to
take cabs, so that was a real problem.  There's nothing for it but to
stay home, except for medical appointments to try to get better.  I was
even too sick for the paratransit at first, so it would sort of undo all
the treatment I couldn't afford, either.

Not helpful, but I do understand being in a transportation trap.  Back
in Bend, I did argue extensively with the two drivers in question, and
even tried various levels of incivility when more acceptable means of
conflict resolution failed.  I got tired of hearing myself talk to
people that way for no apparent reason, so simply had to find other
solutions and make some pretty drastic life changes -- like moving to a
city with public transportation -- so that I wouldn't have to put up
with that sort of thing.

Not everyone can or should do that, and I do think you should argue and
debate and quote scripture (since it's a church setting) and find a nice
brick wall to beat your head against because that does more good.  /grim
smile/  Seriously, I never could figure out how to change the mindset of
the people causing the same sort of problem in my life beyond phasing
them out of my life, because who needs it?  But in a smaller city, you
may not have the option of just up and going to another church to
worship, and cabs are more expensive than in cities, and fewer means of
offsetting that expense exist...

Keep up the fight, but don't let it take too much out of you.  Good
luck!

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of d m gina
Sent: Monday, June 01, 2009 1:01 PM
To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [nagdu] transportation

I asked if I could get help with cab fare, and they never wanted to
cross that bridge.
I am sure we can get something worked out.
I don't give up easy.
this is a problem for all of us from one time or another, where folks
come up with ways to get things done.
So I asked to know how far can you go with a stand and when you need to
stop asking.

--
--Dar
every saint has a past
every sinner has a future

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