[nagdu] EXTERNAL:Re: Traveling Advice

[Julie J]

 Rebecca,

  I've talked about it on the list before.  It's in the archives somewhere 
if only I had the patience to look it up.

It was my first time flying with a guide dog, who happened to be Belle.  I 
had a really long layover in Denver...I'm remembering 3 hours or so.  I 
wanted to take Belle someplace so she could have an opportunity to relieve. 
After several tries of explaining what I needed I was finally handed over to 
some employee who didn't speak very good English, didn't know anyplace to 
take the dog, stopped to chat with fellow employees along the way, got lost 
repeatedly and then tried to insist that I should go to the wrong gate.  We 
ended up in a shouting match over where I was and was not going to go.

I tried to ditch the guy on several occasions.  Once I was actually 
successful, which is when I found a door to outside and let Belle relieve. 
But he found me and was pissed.  all attempts to be civil for the first hour 
of this fiasco were futile.

Seriously not a good time.  So now I use the ask as I go approach.

Oh and the ticket counter employee moved me to bulkhead seating without 
asking or at least I'm assuming that is what happened.

Julie



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Pickrell, Rebecca M (TASC)" <REBECCA.PICKRELL at tasc.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2010 12:45 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] EXTERNAL:Re: Traveling Advice


> Julie,
> I'll bite.
> What happened that made you notifying about your guide dog a disaster?
> I'm curious.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Julie J
> Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 2010 12:07 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: EXTERNAL:Re: [nagdu] Traveling Advice
>
> I don't give advance notice of my blindness or my guide dog unless I
> will
> need some accommodation related to one or the other.  Like if I am going
> to
> a conference and I need materials emailed to me in advance I will of
> course
> tell them that I'm blind.  I have never informed a hotel ahead of time.
> I
> haven't given advanced notice when flying either, but when I got to the
> first airport they made some sort of note in the computer, changed my
> seating and set up someone to meet me at each gate.  I don't think I
> would
> have minded so much if this had actually been of help, but it turned out
> to
> be a gigantic disaster.
>
> I think the only way to figure out what works for you and what doesn't
> is to
> just try out different things and see what happens.   some people choose
> the
> advance notice option and some don't, I say if it works for you then
> it's
> the right choice for you.
>
> Julie
>
>
>
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