While entering the local amusement park yesterday (Rye Playland), a park employee denied us access. She said only service dogs were allowed. I said that Verona was a service dog and tried to go through the gate. She stopped me and said she had to call her manager to double check. I said that I was blind and that my dog is a guide dog. She didn’t budge. Then the folks I was with told her the same thing and suddenly she let us in. This goes back to something that happened at work the other day: my office mates sometimes don’t feel confident I can handle the phones even though I’m better at it then some of them. A call came in and after I put it on hold, the caller hung up. This resulted in my office mates blaming me for dropping the call. They automatically made an assumption that the blind person fucked up when it was not the case at all . I don’t think my office mates even thought about how I’d feel about it. Maybe it’s me who should feel sorry for them, not being able to have confidence in someone like me.
All I can do is be the best I can and let it roll off, but, boy sometimes it’s so hard to do it.