2 Legs + 30,000 Feet = Discrimination

Today, I spent the day going back and forth on whether to fly or drive for our trip to Faraway.  I listed the pros and cons.  Researched travel routes.  Priced flights.  But the one thing that kept sticking in my head was "What if I fly and someone carries on a cat or dog?"  My allergies and asthma would go haywire!  It could be deadly for me.  So I hit the internet trying to find my answer.  There was a lot of information about what to do if I wanted to take my pet on a flight but nothing about pet free flights.  I knew it was a long shot but they have peanut free flights now where they don't serve peanuts.  Of course that doesn't mean Joe Ignorant can't open a pack of peanut M&Ms he carried on but at least they are making the effort.  So with renewed inspiration, I dialed the airline 1-800 number.  After pushing a million buttons, which if you remember is one of my favorite things, I got a representative and told her my dilemma.  She said that I had a very good question and that if I would hold for a minute she would find out the answer for me.  Great!  She sounded kind of optimistic.  Maybe they had pet-free flights.  She returned to tell me that they do not have flights that are guaranteed to be pet-free.  The process I would have to follow is to book my flight and then call back periodically to check and see if a pet was registered on the flight and if they were, the airline would make the best effort to help me reschedule.  Um, ok.  So I can fly on your airline but not if Fido chooses the same flight.  I mean, its not even first serve.  Dogs and cats take priority over guests with a disability.  They do limit the number of pets on a flight so maybe if I reserve a pet spot and pay the extra fee then NOT take on a pet I could manipulate the system.  The airline we flew on for our transatlanic flights years ago could guarantee there would be no pets.  And that was years ago.  You'd think on a shorter, within the country flight in a more modern time that things would have developed a little.  Apparently only if you have four legs.  Nice.  I guess we will be driving the two full days in one direction to get to Faraway.  I just wish I had the same options as Fluffy and Spot.  Look out, I feel an angry letter coming on . . .

Not as Seen on TV

I have OCD.  For those of you who think you know about the disorder, this may come as a shock.  We are not all germaphobes who vaccuum our houses 24/7.  My house is a mess and I'm fine with that.  I even have pictures hanging up that aren't totally straight.  Yes, I prefer to have things piled from largest to smallest but the thing is not all people with OCD have the type of disease depicted on television.  It is a very frustrating disease.  The one thing they never show you is just how exhausting the disorder can be.  Your mind is always going - constantly thinking.  Its like having a song that is stuck in your head all day.  You know how annoying that can be.  Now imagine repeating things in your life like that constantly - both mentally and physically.  Imagine never being sure of yourself.  Always doubting if you did something or said something.  Using key words or actions to help you remember that you did something and those key words or actions becoming rituals that you must do in order to prevent something bad from happening.  You know that feeling you get in the pit of your stomach the moment you realize you've locked your keys inside your car?  Now multiply that feeling by ten at least and insert it into your day about 150 times.  That's what its like to have OCD.  You have to have others make decisions for you because you're too afraid the one you make will be wrong.  You have to do things twenty times just to be sure you did them (and most likely because twenty is a nice even number).  Through the marvels of modern medicine I am able to function at a fairly normal level.  I get to work on time now because I don't have to drive home to make sure I locked the door.  I can go to bed without getting up five times to check that the stove is off.  I can even throw away a box or two here or there.  There are even some advantages to having the disorder.  We're great with names and faces.  We are usually quite organized (even if its just that we know where everything is with in our mess).  We are usually good at doing math in our heads because we are always adding random numbers we see in various places.  We have great attention to detail.  Just don't be fooled by what you see portrayed on television.  There is much more to someone who has OCD than just what you see on "Monk".

For an accurate and humorous description of one woman's struggle with OCD, please read "Devil in the Details: Scenes from an Obsessive Girlhood" by Jennifer Traig.

 

Itching for Equality

I just heard on the news about a boy in Virginia who is fighting the school board to allow him to be able to take his seizure sensing dog to school.  Now, I am all for seeing eye dogs, therapy dogs, seizure sensing dogs, etc. but as a person with severe allergies that trigger my asthma, I see a problem with this.  What if there are children who are allergic to dogs in his classroom?  I'm not talking about a little sneeze here or there which is bad enough.  I'm talking about eyes that are swollen shut, sneezing that won't stop, and airway constriction that is life threatening.  Are they just to stay home so he can go to school?  What happens in today's society when you have conflicting disabilities?  When does one disability take precedence over another and who is to make that call?  My daughter has to take medication just so she can be near people at school who have dogs at home.  What if this were happening in her school?  I feel for the child - really I do - and I hope that he doesn't encounter someone with an opposing disability.  I just can't help but wonder "what if"?  I am always afraid when I am scheduled to be in a confined space such as an airplane that someone with a disability aiding animal will be there too.  People are quick to pull out the Americans with Disabilities Act.  What they don't realize is that there are others with disabilities too.  So many people think that everyone with allergies can just take a Benedryl and go on their merry way, but that's not the case for everyone.  I take prescription allergy medication just to be able to function each day and that is with avoiding contact with the things I am allergic to.  Allergies can be life-threatening.  I hope by posting this that I can open the eyes of some people who see one disability as lesser than another.  I'm not the mean old lady who doesn't want seizure dogs in school.  I'm the lady who could die if I taught there.

The Adventures of Gimpy Me

I am finally off of my crutches.  After a week of assisted walking and lots of resting, I am finally doing better.  My torn calf muscle is healing and I can start getting my life back to normal.  There is one thing that my eyes were opened to while I was hobbling along this past week - How rude people are to the disabled.  While there have been a few kind souls who have held a door open, there are just as many if not more ignorant people with either have no hearts or no awareness of the world around them.  The worst experience I had was the day that we traveled to see my daughter in a band/colorguard competition.  Luckily, after being allowed to park in the handicapped parking area and being led through the handicapped entrance (at the top of the stadium), we were able to snag a few seats in the handicapped companion seating area saving me from falling down the bleacher stairs in pursuit of a place to rest my rear.  However, I was amazed at the number of non-disabled people occupying seats clearly marked for the handicapped.  There was even a lady standing in the wheelchair spot next to my hubby while a lady IN a wheelchair waited behind her for the spot.  She didn't move giving the poor lady in the wheelchair a nice view of her butt instead of the show.  We only stayed for three performances and upon our leaving, the lady who had been standing next to hubby promptly took our handicapped seats.  Later when we stopped on the way home for dinner, I was stunned that upon leaving the restaurant that a group of twenty-somethings standing on the sidewalk outside did not have the courtesy to move when I approached.  I was forced to crutch my way down off the sidewalk onto the road and make my way around them.  Are you kidding?  I have a nephew who is permanently disabled and in a wheelchair or on crutches.  He is not afraid to nudge someone with his crutch and ask them to move because he is disabled.  At first I found this rather rude, but after seeing firsthand how poorly I'm sure he is treated, I say kudos to you nephew!  Wish I had the guts to nudge them with my crutch and ask them to move.  Then again, nudge wouldn't have been the term for what I wanted to do :)