[gps-talkusers] Re: FW: [TSE-Chat] Fw: [doggie-den] Fw: Please Show That Discrimination Is Not Acceptable!

  • From: "gerry leary" <lgerry3@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 12:26:15 -0600

MessageMaybe we should bring another large group with imbedded reporters who 
don't look the type.  Gerry
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Sarai 
  To: Seeing Eye ; GPS 
  Cc: GDUI ; ACB List ; alabama 
  Sent: Tuesday, September 20, 2005 12:11 PM
  Subject: [gps-talkusers] FW: [TSE-Chat] Fw: [doggie-den] Fw: Please Show That 
Discrimination Is Not Acceptable!



  -----Original Message-----
  From: TSE-Chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:TSE-Chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of 
Barbara Gatto
  Sent: Tuesday, September 20, 2005 11:19 AM
  To: Seeingeye List
  Cc: Seeing eye Chat
  Subject: [TSE-Chat] Fw: [doggie-den] Fw: Please Show That Discrimination Is 
Not Acceptable!


  Subject: Please Show That Discrimination Is Not Acceptable!


  | Hey, all,
  |     I haven't posted much recently, since I'm only on  the Digest version,
  | but I wanted to enlist your help. I just returned from a  wonderful week 
  with
  | the Sendero Group (the maker's of the BrailleNote GPS) in  Maine. Every 
  year,
  | the Sendero Group goes on a tour to an interesting  destination anywhere 
  in the
  | world. They've toured California's Gold Country and  last year they 
  visited
  | Ireland and Scotland. As I said, this year's trip was to  Maine and, 
  luckily,
  | they have scholarships for college students and young  professionals which 
  pay
  | for the hotel and traveling expenses. The trip is  basically just a group 
  of
  | thirty blind folks going to a cool location and  traveling around 
  independently
  | using their canes, guide dogs, and the Braille  Note GPS. I highly, highly
  | recommend that those of you who are interested in  going next year apply 
  for a
  | scholarship. It's a really great time.
  |     Okay, so anyway, that's the background. Here's why  I need everybody's
  | help.
  |     As wonderful as the trip was, we did encounter one  really disturbing
  | incident. As a cane user, I don't encounter guide dog  discrimination 
  myself, so
  | traveling in a group where many people used dogs was  an eye opening
  | experience. On Thursday, we were in Portland, Maine and after  lunch, 
  several of us
  | decided to go to the Shipyard Brewing Company. Some of our  other 
  traveling
  | companions had had Shipyard beer at the restaurant where they'd  eaten 
  lunch and
  | they highly recommended that a group of us go check it out. So,  about 
  fifteen
  | of us braved the light rain that had begun to fall and walked the  mile or 
  so
  | to the Shipyard Brewery. With visions of hops and barley dancing in  our 
  heads,
  | we all trooped into the brewery. Unbeknownst to me at the time,  several 
  of
  | the brewery employees pulled two members of our group aside and told  them 
  that
  | they didn't want "all these blind people" going upstairs and taking  the
  | tour. After all, they said, there are hoses all over the floor and puddles 
  of
  | water everywhere. Luckily, these two people explained that we would all be 
  using
  | canes or dog guides and that these mobility aids would prevent us from
  | getting into any sort of trouble.
  |     Things seemed settled and we all trooped in to the  waiting room. 
  There
  | were about fifty or sixty people waiting to take the tour. A  brewery tour
  | guide came up to the front of the room and announced, "Just so  everybody 
  knows,
  | we're going to watch an eight minute film on the brewery and  the brewing
  | process. After that, we're going to go upstairs and take a tour.  This 
  will involve
  | going up three flights of stairs and there are hoses and  puddles of water
  | all over the place. So, you might all want to think about that  as you 
  watch the
  | film."
  | Naturally, all of us knew  that this was code for, "Are you blind folks 
  sure
  | you can handle this?" So, we  all nodded and smiled amiably and sat 
  through
  | the eight minute introductory  film. After it had ended, the tour guide 
  came
  | back and informed the audience  that guide dogs were not allowed upstairs. 
  We
  | tried explaining to the employees  that not allowing the guide dogs to 
  come with
  | their owners was against the law,  but they didn't care. They seemed
  | particularly concerned that the dogs  would somehow contaminate their 
  yeast. We
  | reminded them that guide dogs are very  well groomed and cared for and 
  that, after
  | all, how could they guarantee that  any people who went on the tour had 
  good
  | hygiene and were clean? After arguing  with them for quite some time, it 
  became
  | apparent to us that they would use any  excuse to keep us from going. 
  First,
  | they didn't want us to go because of safety  concerns. When we refuted 
  those
  | concerns, they brought up the guide dog issue.  After we told them that 
  that was
  | discrimination, they told us that they just  didn't like large groups 
  coming
  | in. (This is complete crap. We were just going  to tag along with a public 
  tour
  | of about fifty or sixty people and their were  only about fifteen or 
  twenty
  | of us. There was plenty of room.) Finally, they  offered us a tour if we 
  left
  | the guide dogs downstairs. Most of the group  decided not to go on the 
  tour on
  | principle and also because of the practical  matter of where they would 
  leave
  | their guide dogs. However, two guide dog users  agreed to leave their dogs
  | downstairs with a friend and go on the tour anyway.  Being a cane user, I 
  decided
  | to join them. So, Jamie took the tour guide's arm  and Denna took my arm 
  and
  | we were off. I was still seething, but I wanted to see  what about the 
  brewery
  | floor was so treacherous and frightening. I can honestly  say that there 
  was
  | no reason the dogs couldn't have gone. We were never in  contact with any 
  of
  | the actual product and, as I said, they don't screen people  for 
  cleanliness
  | and all of the guide dogs were probably better groomed then some  of the 
  people
  | who take the tour.
  | Because we had  been treated with such disrespect, none of us bought 
  anything
  | from the gift shop  and Mike May called the Seeing Eye to look into the
  | matter. We quickly found out  that another guide dog user had once been 
  denied
  | access into another brewery and  the court had found the brewery to be 
  guilty of
  | discrimination. We wished  we had known this when we went in, but we 
  warned
  | them that they have not seen  the last of us. Sendero Group and the Seeing 
  Eye
  | are going to have their lawyers  contact the brewery.
  |     In the meantime, we need to show the brewery that  denying access to
  | blind people who use guide dogs is unacceptable. Many guide  dog users in 
  our
  | group have toured other breweries without incident and, as I  said, there 
  is legal
  | precedent that breweries are not allowed to do this. Please  email the
  | brewery and let them know that they have lost your business and that  of 
  your family
  | and friends. They need to know that what they did angered not  only a 
  group
  | of fifteen blind people, but also those people's family and  friends. I
  | especially encourage you to pass this on to other listservs,  particularly 
  guide dog
  | users listservs. Here is the Shipyard Brewing Company's  contact info:
  | Email: info@xxxxxxxxxxxx
  | Office Phone: 207-761-0807
  | Office Toll Free:  1-800-789-0684
  |     Thanks for your  help!
  | Stacy
  | PS Throughout  the trip, all the scholarship winners were responsible for
  | writing a web log of  the trip. You can check it out at :
  | _http://www.senderogroup.com/blog.htm_ 
  (http://www.senderogroup.com/blog.htm)



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