My Biggest Pet Peeves

Here are some of my BIGGEST pet peeves as a disabled person with a service dog.

The first one is when I walk into a bathroom and every single stall is open, but the larger accessible stall. And I wait. And wait. Because I can’t fit in the “normal” stalls. And out walks a person who had no reason to use the accessible stall. This frustrates me because able-bodied people have the choice of any stall in the restroom but still choose the accessible one, which is the only one that I can physically use.

Similarly, when I’m in an auditorium or movie theatre, there are SO MANY SEATS AVAILABLE. Yet, people choose to sit in the accessible seat with the space available next to them. I can’t sit in the normal seats or people step on my dog because she doesn’t have room to tuck away. I have limited choice in where I get to sit. Leave the choice for the disabled person and choose any other seat.

This may seem like a small thing, but you are taking away disabled people’s access when you choose to take the only option available to them despite you having access to other seats and stalls.

The last pet peeve I want to mention is fake service dogs. When a non-disabled person chooses to bring a pet to a not-pet-friendly place, they are risking my service dog’s career, my health, and the health of others in the establishment.

Please think twice about how your actions affect the disabled people in your community. Our choices are limited and your choices potentially limit us even more.