The journeys of Becky, blind from retinitis pigmentosa, and her beauitiful guide dogs.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Flights 51 & 52
Flight 51 through security was a new experience. I walked through and then Cricket followed which then generally has them do a quick pat down to Cricket as her harness sets off the alarm. This time, they decided they needed to take the harness off and run it through security. They also wanted to take Cricket off to check her out. Nope I said - assertively. Not necessary or okay to take my dog away! Not going to let go of that leash. Sometimes they respond like they have never had a guide dog go through security. Coming home on Flight 52, they were aware that I did not set it off so they just needed to check my dog. I have not had them inspect every part of Cricket and her harness so thoroughly before. The man behind me commented on it also. Cricket was so happy thinking she was getting all this extra attention. Both flights we had our favorite kind of plane: the divider between first class and bulk head stops at the seat so Cricket has a little extra room to stretch out.
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7 comments:
Yay for assertive Becky! I am so proud of you! That gets me all riled up. Someday I'll be with you when the chance comes for me to be assertive.... I wanna fight! Ya! I'll say... Don't you know this is the Wasatch Woman of the Year your messing with! Duh! :) If you don't want to ever hang out with me again, I'll understand :)
I know what you mean. Security is getting slightly ridiculous. Can't believe that they wanted to take a Guide Dog away from its person. Yay for being assertive!
Becky, nothing surprises us with airport security. Flying through LaGuardia last year with Clive and Murray - security not only insisted on taking Clive's jacket off - but also his lead - then wanted him to walk through on his own!! The poor dog was so confused - no working jacket, no lead and then having a strange man giving him commands!! You can imagine how difficult this was for Murray too!
Coming home from Hilton Head airport - it was worse as they not only again insisted on his jacket/lead being taken off - and him walking through on his own again, then Murray was patted down as well. To pat down an autistic child unecessarily - he hadn't set off any beepers - was crazy and made Murray incredidly upset. I wanted to go mad with the staff but we were worried that we would just went into more trouble.
JFK airport was totally different and European airports have always been much more accommodating! In fact we are flying into Spain this weekend with Clive and it is always a total pleasure - the airport security staff are the very opposite and hardly check Clive in case they interupt him!
The joys of airline travelling with a service dog!!
- Fiona
YAY for being assertive and standingup for your rights. What an appropriate post considering our outing for tonight is at the KCI airport to go through security.
I loathe airport security because of my artificial leg. It always sets off the alarms and I always explain why, but I get pulled off to be wanded from head to foot, patted down (sometimes more vigorously than patting - depends on the airport), and wiped with filter paper which is put into the explosives detector. Last time I flew, they were very busy and couldn't get to me for awhile, so I sat over the in the "potential terrorist" waiting area with an older gentleman who was also waiting. I said, "What are you in for? New hip or knee?" He grinned and said, "Hip." I think there should be some government sanctioned ID that says "Has artificial leg. Will always have artificial leg. Is not a terrorist." I could flash it at security and they'd say, "You're good to go."
Grrr. I would have had a hard time restraining MYSELF from growling at them! So glad you made it clear that what they were suggesting was not ok. Does the law cover you for that too? In Australia you cannot attempt to separate a person from their guide/assistance dog and it is punishable by law.
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