[nagdu] Blind man, guide dog banned from bus ride in Tampa | WFLA.com

Thu Nov 26 20:35:20 UTC 2015

Julie,
You make a very good point.
Its like the point, of if they
don't want to help themselves
then you can't help them.  The
same goes for education of
people.  If they don't want to
be educated.  Then it will be
the waste of time.  

Warmly,
Melissa R. Green and Pj
It is 'where we are' that
should make all the
difference, whether we believe
we belong there or not. 

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu
[mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.o
rg] On Behalf Of Julie J. via
nagdu
Sent: Thursday, November 26,
2015 6:33 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the
National Association of Guide
Dog Users
Cc: Julie J.
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Blind
man, guide dog banned from bus
ride in Tampa | WFLA.com

The thing is, you can't
educate people into caring.
If they are open to 
learning then education can
sure help guide them in the
right direction. 
However no amount of education
is ever going to move people
to action if 
there is no feeling of
concern, curiosity or
engagement.

You have to meet people where
they are.  They have to know
how what you are 
saying could affect their life
in a meaningful way.  Telling
someone who 
doesn't care that
discrimination is wrong and
hurtful will get you 
absolutely nowhere.  If you
tell that same person that
it's illegal and 
these specific things can
happen...fines, jail time,
community service 
hours...then they see
immediately how their actions
will affect their life. 
But if your talking to someone
who really, really doesn't
care, even that 
won't matter.  It won't be
until they experience the pain
of forking out the 
money for a lawyer and
explaining their actions in
front of a judge that it 
really hits home.

I guess my take on all of this
is that I think education is a
sort of 
invitation only thing.  If
someone wants to do better,
learn and grow, then 
I'm happy to help them in
whatever way I can.  However
if they have no 
interest in changing their
behavior, then education is a
lost cause.  Action 
is what is needed.

Julie
Courage to Dare: A Blind
Woman's Quest to Train her Own
Guide Dog is now 
available! Get the book here:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QX
ZSMOC
-----Original Message----- 
From: Cindy Ray via nagdu
Sent: Thursday, November 26,
2015 7:11 AM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the
National Association of Guide
Dog Users'
Cc: Cindy Ray
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Blind
man,guide dog banned from bus
ride in Tampa | 
WFLA.com

Staci, it is more than lack of
training and ignorance. They
had training. It
is against the law. This
wasn't the first time Marion
has used that service,
and they knew they were
picking up a man with his
guide dog. Sarge is a big
dog, but the dog was under
control, he was not a threat
to others, and he
does perform the tasks of a
guide dog. I find it ironic
that our NAGDU
president is the person who
received this service, but I
guess I shouldn't
be at all surprised. We have
to continue fighting this kind
of thing in
courts where required, with
education when possible, and
with the kind of
respect that we would prefer
to be shown. If we just let it
happen, it is
going to continue to happen. I
did that last year on
Thanksgiving. I went
into a Perkins and was given
equal but separate benefit.
They were going to
seat us in a darkened area
that was not set up for
service at the time
because they did not want the
dog to disturb their
customers. I never did
anything about it and I should
have. If someone else went to
that Perkins in
Houston, the same thing might
happen. I left. My daughter's
response to that
was, "What is this, the
1960s?" I regret that I did
nothing. I did file a
complaint with Southwest
Airlines when they insisted I
needed to sit in the
bulkhead. We all have to try
hard to do what we can, even
if it is removing
ourselves from our comfort
zone to do it.
I hope all have a happy
Thanksgiving.

Cindy Lou Ray
cindyray at gmail.com

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu
[mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.o
rg] On Behalf Of Stacie Hardy
via
nagdu
Sent: Thursday, November 26,
2015 5:55 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the
National Association of Guide
Dog Users
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Stacie Hardy
<stacieandcash at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Blind
man, guide dog banned from bus
ride in Tampa |
WFLA.com

Hello All,

First, let me start off by
wishing everyone a safe and
happy Thanksgiving.
As I read this story
yesterday, I couldn't help but
thinking about the many
times this has happened to my
guide dog, Cash and I. I can
only hope, that
with all of us working
together that this sort of
thing can be
lessened.Unfortunately,
stupidity will never be
eliminated, but with the
proper training ignorance can
be overcome. I can only hope,
that I'm around
when guide and service dogs
finally  are given the respect
they so deserve.
Hugs and pats to all from his
majesty and I.

--
Stacie Hardy

In every guide dog, there
beats the heart of a puppy
raiser.
Twitter: @PatriotsGirl7

On 11/25/2015 9:35 PM, Steven
Johnson via nagdu wrote:
>
http://wfla.com/2015/11/19/bli
nd-man-guide-dog-banned-from-b
us-ride-in
> -tampa
> /
>
>
> Blind man, guide dog banned
from bus ride in Tampa
>
>
> News Channel 8 Reporter
Melanie Michael By Melanie
Michael
> Published: November 19,
2015, 9:02 pm | Updated:
November 19, 2015,
> 11:08 pm
>
>
> Marion Gwizdala and Sarge
>
>
> TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) - Marion
Gwizdala calls it
disrespectful and
> disappointing. Most of all,
he says, it's discrimination.
Marion and
> his guide dog, Sarge, depend
on public transportation
around Tampa
> Bay. They utilize the
Hillsborough Area Regional
Transit system.
>
> On Wednesday morning, their
commute became controversial.
As the
> President of the National
Association of Guide Dog
Users, Marion is
> accustomed to fighting for
the rights of the visually
impaired. But
> that morning, he admits,
seemed typical and uneventful.
He had no idea
> it would soon make
headlines. Marion was waiting,
with Sarge by his
> side, for a HART transport
van.  It was a ride he planned
two days in
advance.
> Sarge
> Sarge
>
> When the paratransit service
arrived at Marion's Tampa
home, the
> problem began. When Marion
and Sarge tried to get on
board, he was
> barred access, he says.
"When I inquired as to the
reason I could not
> open the door, I was told
there were two other people on
the van," Marion
explained to WFLA.
>
> Stunned, he stood there
while the driver called a
dispatcher. Moments
> later, he was informed that
a passenger was afraid of
dogs. So, Marion
> and Sarge were left behind.
"I'm frustrated because this
should never have
happened.
> It's against the law," he
told us. "You can't
discriminate against
> someone for their
disability. I plan to fight
this."
>
> Sarge
>
> Ironically, Marion was on
his way to a conference where
he was
> advocating for the rights of
the visually impaired. "I was
going to a
> grant writing workshop. . I
just want to live an
independent life.
> This hurts our ability to do
that.  It's hurtful,
demeaning,
> undignified," he says.
Marion has filed multiple
complaints with
> various agencies, including
the Department of Justice. He
now has
> representation, is
considering legal action and
plans to file a complaint
with Hillsborough County as
well.
>
> When 8 On Your Side
contacted HART, a spokesperson
admitted this was
> not handled properly. "I
understand where he's coming
from. We
> recognize that things can be
tweaked and better. We get
that. This was
> an unfortunate situation. I
don't think [Sarge} is by any
means a
> threat, but it is a large
dog. We know we need to make
changes," Sandra
Morrison from HART said.
>
> The driver and dispatch
operator are now under
investigation. News
> Channel 8 was told that HART
has entered into an agreement
with Yellow
> Cab to help with situations
just like these. That
agreement goes into
effect in January.
>
> Meanwhile, Marion wants
changes within the HART
agency. "They can't
> treat people like this. It's
happened before and it keeps
happening.
> It's got to stop," he said.
>
>
>
>
>
>
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