Second Week Home

The second week home started off with @loveuleslie and I having lunch with @s.e.l.z. Getting to lunch was quite an adventure because little did, we all know but many of the hotels in the downtown area were on strike, making it hard to find a good lunch spot. Although we encountered a strike, Eve did amazing navigating through the people. After doing some research we settled on @navyproof for lunch. @navyproof had amazing service and even knew proper guide dog etiquette. Once we finished lunch we headed back to @s.e.l.z’s house where she had some surprises for Eve, which Eve loved. 

Eve laying under the table.

On Monday of the second week home, I went to work as normal, but after work I had an appointment to get a new hand brace made. Going into this appointment I assumed they could just measure me for the brace, and I would be on my way, but no. As I was going into the appointment, I had a bad feeling when they told me that Eve could not come into the exam room when this brace was made. I of course advocated for myself and said “why?” she can go right under my chair. Come to find out they were saying no because the authorization was for a leg brace. When this was mentioned, I said “I think there was a mixup. Do you even make hand braces?” All they could offer me was one with no thumb protection, at this point I knew they were not going to be able to help me and I just walked out. 

The rest of the week went better with me having uneventful days at work and a successful route from my office to the student union. I wanted to work this particular route from my office to the student union, as I knew that I would have to work New Student Orientation that next week. 

Although Tuesday through Thursday went extremely smoothly, I could not say the same about Friday, as I took Eve on her first Disney trip. She did amazing navigating through all of the people and was happy to walk behind @kristentheguidingeye and @shelbi_nichole in a double. Although our trip to Disneyland went off without a hitch, I could not say that about our experience getting an @uber to go home. We faced two @uber denials before having the third driver take us, but only because we had some kind people helping us locate our @uber’s. Not only did these kind people help us find our @uber’s they also warned us that there were black cars that were trying to pick people up but were not @uber’s. To ensure that we both made it home we chose to share our @uber’s.  We made it home two hours after placing our first @uber request. 

Lindsay and Eve in front of the Disneyland castle.

@shelbi_nichole, @kristentheguidingeye, Eve and Lindsay in front of the Disneyland castle.

I heavily explained @shelbi_nichole and my experience getting an @uber, as it is a common occurrence for @uber drivers to deny service dog handlers because they are afraid that the service dogs will leave a mess or otherwise. What these drivers do not realize is that by becoming an @uber driver they agree to follow the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which states that service dogs can go into any public place including @ubers, since they are used to transport the public.