[nagdu] Here's your dog!

[Ann Edie]

No, to your question about the guide harness.  But if you really want to 
have fun some time, try leaving a Braille magazine that you have finished 
reading on an airplane, in a hotel lobby, or in any other public place where 
someone can track you down.

I've had discarded magazines follow me from the plane to the baggage claim 
area, and I've had them appear on my breakfast table in the hotel restaurant 
days after being abandoned in the hotel lobby.  I've even had them presented 
to me on a revisit to a doctor's office, months after I've left them behind 
after reading them.

It always amazes me that this happens, because all of these places are 
characterized by stacks of print magazines, read, shared, and discarded by 
the customers, passengers, patients who spend time mostly waiting in those 
areas.  Obviously, sighted people see a Braille document of any kind as an 
object of such rarity and value that they can't imagine it ever being 
deliberately abandoned.  And just as obviously, they find it easy to believe 
that the blind person is so scatter-brained or careless that he/she requires 
others to gather and return his/her prized possessions to him/her.

By the way, they also expect gratitude when the marvelous Braille magazine 
is placed back in your hands.  They are completely nonplused when I say to 
them, "Oh, I had discarded that magazine, because I was finished reading it. 
You're welcome to take it if you wish."

I don't know if anyone else has ever had such experiences.  But it has 
become something of a game I play with airline and hotel staff--see if you 
can lose the Braille magazine--Reminds me of the song, "The Cat Came Back."

Best,
Ann

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Haben Girma" <habnkid at aol.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 3:19 AM
Subject: [nagdu] Here's your dog!


>
> Sometimes when I'm at the counter at a store or cafe, I"ll deliberately 
> drop my cane by my feet so I can fish into my backpack to get my wallet. 
> And sometimes, like today, when I've finished my purchase and am putting 
> everything away in my backpack, a staff member will come around to pick up 
> my cane and hand it to me. Now, I knew exactly where my cane was. In fact, 
> I could feel it by my foot! I was going to pick it up right after I put my 
> wallet in my backpack. The staff member was either very eager to help, or 
> worried that I wouldn't be able to find my cane.
>
> Now I"m wondering, do any of you have similar experiences with dogs? Do 
> people in the public say, "here's his harness!" when you already know 
> exactly where your guide dog is located?
>
> Haben
>
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