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

  • From: "Hyde, David W." <david.hyde@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 13:40:56 -0500

I don't know Maine law, but there is probably something on the books
requiring dog guides and their users be admitted to all public places.
This would include the brewery.  Those who were denied access should
file the complaint, not Seeing eye, or Sendero Group.  Neither Seeing
Eye, nor Sendero were discriminated against, so probably do not have
standing to file on your behalf.  Talk with the attorney general there,
a f file either individually or as a group. 

-----Original Message-----
From: gps-talkusers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:gps-talkusers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Sarai
Sent: Tuesday, September 20, 2005 1:33 PM
To: gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [gps-talkusers] Re: FW: [TSE-Chat] Fw: [doggie-den] Fw: Please
Show That Discrimination Is Not Acceptable!

Or lawyers. Or maybe someone can pod cast the entire thing.

        -----Original Message-----
        From: gps-talkusers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:gps-talkusers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of gerry leary
        Sent: Tuesday, September 20, 2005 1:26 PM
        To: gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
        Subject: [gps-talkusers] Re: FW: [TSE-Chat] Fw: [doggie-den] Fw:
Please Show That Discrimination Is Not Acceptable!
        
        
        Maybe we should bring another large group with imbedded
reporters who don't look the type.  Gerry

                ----- Original Message ----- 
                From: Sarai <mailto:bucc7465@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>  
                To: Seeing Eye <mailto:seeingeye-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>  ; GPS
<mailto:gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>  
                Cc: GDUI <mailto:GDU-United@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>  ; ACB List
<mailto:acb-l@xxxxxxx>  ; alabama <mailto:alabama@xxxxxxx>  
                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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