Lots of Work Left to Do

We had an exciting afternoon yesterday when we went to Haifa to sit at a booth in a shopping mall and explain to people about guide dogs. When we first got to the mall Bracha went into the big Super - Pharm. Funny that we were on an outing to promote awareness but soon the nonsense started. Suddenly a woman came up to Bracha and told her she was not allowed to bring me into the drug store.

"This is a guide dog," explains Bracha. You're wrong. She's allowed everywhere by law."

"I don't care waht kind of dog it is," the woman replies. "There's a pharmacy here." Evidently she thought that I might contaminate the medicine or something. Little does she know that I've even been inside hospitals!

"Yes, thank you, I know..." repliesBracha. "And I want to buy something there." She just turned her back on the woman, and on we marched right past her.

When we first got to the booth I was pretty anxious because the booth next to us was a booth belonging to some people who trained dogs. They had several dogs there. One was even lying on top of the table! But I soon got to know them and we were soon all wagging our tails and getting acquainted. And then Adi showed up with Yuni! I was delighted to see her and we did more than a bit of romping under the table until Bracha and Adi settled us down.

I guess that being on display is not so bad. Lots of children and adults came by and petted me all the time, and I just lay on the floor and let them pet me all afternoon. Soon it was time to go, and we made our way through the huge mall to the bus stop.

Well, it seems that Bracha is going to have to sit with me at a lot more booths and do a lot more explaining. As soon as we got onto the bus to Nahariya the driver reached out to pet me and say hello. A woman started up that I needed to have a muzzle, and for once the driver sided with us and told her firmly that I was a guide dog and needed no muzzle. And another woman started yelling at Bracha saying that she didn't feel she needed to "suffer" having a dog on the bus with her. I waited for Bracha to come up with one of her stinging comments. Sure enough:

"I'm terribly sorry you're suffering from my dog. She's my eyes. Why do I have to suffer your shouting?"

Then the other passengers all chimed in and told the woman she had a lot of nerve talking to Bracha that way. Couldn't she see that I was a guide dog? How inconsiderate and thoughtless. The woman shut up right away and we sat down. I guess we have a lot of work left to do.