Blindie fails and wins in Davis.

[squonk.livejournal.com]

- Two barking, snarling bulldogs pinning me and my guide dog to the wall on Elm and Day Streets yesterday afternoon. The dogs were on-leash, but it took both the owner and another gentleman to physically pull the dogs away. My guide dog was okay. I was less okay, emotionally (but fine physically). It takes a lot to get me to scream.

+ The owner making a point of coming into Starbucks, identifying himself, and apologizing profusely. It was clear that he felt absolutely terrible, and I give him significant credit for actively taking responsibility, which a lot of other people would not have done.

- My being too rattled to say this to him at the time: Please do not walk your aggressive dogs in a public space, especially in the middle of the afternoon, when they're clearly not under your control and a danger to others. They need to be muzzled or they need to stay home. (I'm not trying to be passive-aggressive by posting this here; again, I was just too unnerved at the time to say or do anything useful.) Had my guide dog been injured, all the apologies of the world could not have mitigated the damage to my life.

+ The witness who ended up in front of me in the line at Starbucks expressing her compassion, then proceeding to pay for my drink. Wow. I think her name was Christina, and she made things much more bearable.

- Feeling calmer and proceeding toward home, only to be treated hostilely by another denizen because I did not want to cross Chester Street exactly when she told me to. When I said I was trying to listen to the traffic first, she snapped, "Fine--all you're hearing is a parked car running right now, so you do what you want!" Dear Self-Appointed Crossing Guard: a. I've been crossing streets all by myself for my entire adult life, and since I am an adult, you don't get to make my mobility decisions for me; b. You forgot to ask me if I needed or wanted assistance (a request may well be appreciated; an assumption/insistence never is); c. Your shouting, "It's safe! Go! I said it's safe! CROSS! IT'S SAFE! I'M STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET!" oddly does not inspire a lot of confidence; d. Feel free to go back and stand in the middle of the street for a while, IYKWIM.

- Not wanting to leave my house today.

+ Remembering that Davis Square-ians are actually on the whole some of the most educated, respectful, and generous people I've met anywhere, and that I love living here. Maybe I will leave the house after all.

Comments

[squonk.livejournal.com]

The level of disability-related ignorance still out there in the wider world is actually kind of mind-numbing, when it's not making you want to scream. As far as individual locales go, though, Boston really is pretty great.