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from the my-emotional-support-is-a-lion dept.
The young, perfectly healthy looking guy ahead of me in Panera Bread walked his fifty lb. dog to the front of the line - I can't tell you the breed since I don't know dogs - and was immediately told that the dog had to go. "Um, I have an anxiety disorder", he replied. The cashier turned around to consult with the manager, but people were still waiting to order, and soon it was conceded that the customer and his service dog/best friend could stay for lunch. And they did.
The Chicago Tribune reports that similar incidents are cropping up on airlines. Passengers dread having their pets locked up in a kennel in the cargo section, and airlines charge hefty fees for the service, so some of them are taking advantage of a legal loophole allowing service dogs of disabled people to ride in the passenger cabin free of charge; but in these cases the disability is "emotional distress" rather than, say, blindness. Many of these passengers pay a licensed therapist for the certificate of need required by airline gate attendants, and for an expensive vest for their "service animals".
From the Tribune story:
"It's definitely gotten carried away to the point where people are taking advantage of the system," [Atlanta flight attendant] Williams said. "It's hard when someone is following protocol and they're not allowed to take the animal out of the cage, but others use the loophole to have an animal sit on their lap."
The story mentions that some fellow passengers and advocates for the (real) disabled are annoyed with the game-playing and lax enforcement. However, others perhaps side with the late Harry Nilsson, who famously sang "I'd take my puppy everywhere, la-la-la I wouldn't care. We'll stay away from crowds, signs that said 'No friends allowed'".
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 17 2016, @06:57AM
Entitled, brats that take advantage of the system should ride in the cargo area if they really want to hang with their friends.
The internet is a great place however it can be used to create fake outrage. One restaurant I know of lost many of its customers after some dude pulled the 'its my service dog' act on them. Internet, papers, yelp, etc etc etc, the works. Turns out the dude does not have any papers, was not a disabled vet (which he claimed he was), and has pulled this stunt on many other restaurants in the area. All to get free food. He ruined that business and several others because they said 'papers showing you need it or get out'. He was eventually caught and fined for trying to steal food. However, the damage was done. People lost their jobs. The business was slashed to a fraction of what it was before. All because this asshole decided he wanted a free lunch and make a stink about it.
Businesses are seeing all sorts of lashback from the internet from people wanting and having a need to get outraged on the behalf of others. They brigade these poor min wage souls who never saw it coming. They do their damage and leave destruction in their wake never following up to see if it was true or not. Then many times it was just a small time con who wanted to get one over on 'the system'. So they let it go. They do not fight it anymore. It is not worth being 'that restaurant'. It is dead easy to put fake info into the internet. There are 5 star reviews on Guantanamo bay. Obviously all jokes but it shows how easy it would be to abuse the system.
This makes it extremely tough to run a business and for people with legitimate needs to be taken seriously.
That restaurant where you ate and the dog showed up would have lost me right then and there. I would not have waited for them to make a decision. I have actually anxiety about dogs. It is not rational I know that, it is something I deal with a lot. But I would have just left and not said a word. It makes me feel anxious just thinking about it. I would go back but just so long as the dog was not there. I would have noped out.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 17 2016, @08:54AM
To be fair, while it does not meet the criteria for a service animal they do indeed possess a disability: mental retardation.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Thursday November 17 2016, @02:54PM
One restaurant I know of lost many of its customers after some dude pulled the 'its my service dog' act on them. Internet, papers, yelp, etc etc etc, the works. Turns out the dude does not have any papers, was not a disabled vet (which he claimed he was), and has pulled this stunt on many other restaurants in the area. All to get free food. He ruined that business and several others because they said 'papers showing you need it or get out'. He was eventually caught and fined for trying to steal food. However, the damage was done. People lost their jobs. The business was slashed to a fraction of what it was before. All because this asshole decided he wanted a free lunch and make a stink about it.
Speaking of sensitive idiots...unless the dog was running rampant through the restaurant, it seems pretty shallow if they lost most of their business due to a single incident.
That restaurant where you ate and the dog showed up would have lost me right then and there. I would not have waited for them to make a decision. I have actually anxiety about dogs. It is not rational I know that
Case in point :/
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 0, Troll) by Francis on Thursday November 17 2016, @03:10PM
Not really, some of us are very allergic to some types of animals. I used to break out in a rash if I came into contact with dogs, which was better than when I was around rabbits and my face would swell up and I'd have a hard time breathing because my throat was swelling shut.
Also, that ignores the many people who can't be bothered to properly train their animals and insist that their dog doesn't bite. Which is always true up until the first time they do it.
Bottom line is that some of us prefer not to have to eat in the same restaurant as dogs do, service animals are a bit different in that they're always properly trained and the person with the animal usually needs to have the animal with them rather than at home or outside.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Thursday November 17 2016, @03:34PM
Okay, now *those* are actual reasons. GP basically said "I have a dog phobia."
I'm allergic to cats, but only the really sheddy ones so far. But there's not really such a thing as support cats I guess :)
I still think the "we lost most of our customers due to a single incident" thing is petty on the part of the customers. Fuck second chances, eh? Never coming back!
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 18 2016, @04:19AM
Okay, now *those* are actual reasons. GP basically said "I have a dog phobia."
And does Francis' comment amount to anything more? He just doubles down with the rabbit phobia. But I did once meet a Wizard whom some call "Tim", and he did warn of rabbits with nasty, biting teeth. Just look at the bones! He'll do you! So, to recap. Cat allergy, real thing. Dog allergy, not so much. Rabbit allergy? Unheard of! Why do you think they torture rabbits with make-up to test it for human use? Because rabbits are hypo-allergenic! Once again, Francis has things he does not know, and not knowing them, thinks he knows other things that are not only unknown, but wrong, false, untrue, and a slander upon on lepusidae everywhere. Be prepared for the further doubling down of the Francis. It is what he does.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 17 2016, @04:13PM
All 'allergies' are psychosomatic. It's a bullshit nervous reaction caused by irrational fear. Just stay home and eat your can of beans in front of the TV, if you're not 'allergic' to electricity...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 17 2016, @04:29PM
I guess you've never heard of the immune system.
Also, keep in mind that just because something is psychosomatic, it doesn't mean there isn't a real effect. Seasickness is entirely psychosomatic as with the body's rejection response to food it perceives as poison.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 17 2016, @05:45PM
The immune system is also psychologically controlled. It's all in your head. Calm down and live longer
(Score: 1) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Thursday November 17 2016, @06:27PM
If that is true, then how was I able to detect the presence of a cat within about 30 minutes of entering an new space without seeing, hearing, smelling or touching it?
Holding an opinion with conviction does not make it true.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 17 2016, @07:23PM
If that is true, then how was I able to detect the presence of a cat within about 30 minutes of entering an new space without seeing, hearing, smelling or touching it?
You don't. It's subconscious. You actually are 'smelling' it. The dander is in the air, and your psyche reacts. Otherwise you would be 'allergic' to cats that are half way around the world. Proximity wouldn't make a difference. Allergies are a direct function of tensed up hysteria, a quest for sympathy.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Friday November 18 2016, @03:50AM
-1, Flunked first-year biochemistry
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 3, Informative) by frojack on Friday November 18 2016, @12:42AM
service animals are a bit different in that they're always properly trained
That's the key point right there.
You internet certificates and dog vests mean nothing. Literally $15 bucks gets you both.
As a shop owner, you can ask what specific things the animal has been trained for. (You can't ask the animals owner what medical condition requires the animal be present - that's against the law).
Proprietors can ask two questions:
1) Is the animal required because of a disability?
2) What work or task has the animal been trained to perform?
If they can not list one or more of a set of training that animal has received you can kick them out. In Florida the situation got so bad they passed a law criminalizing fake service animals with a 60 day jail term upon conviction.
There is also a list of fake certificate issuers that I have seen posted in some places,
http://www.servicedogcentral.org/content/node/509 [servicedogcentral.org]
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 1) by Francis on Saturday November 19 2016, @05:01PM
One of the side effects of them being trained is that they don't jump around spreading their allergens all over the place the way a lot of those ill-mannered pets do. I'm still allergic to service dogs, but because they don't jump around all over the place, I'm exposed to somewhat less of it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 18 2016, @12:51AM
If you had put the rest of my quote you would have noticed I would have made no fuss about it and just left and come back at another time.
Also most cities/counties/states consider dogs as a health hazard and you end up with fines.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Friday November 18 2016, @03:47AM
It's not the dog that's destructive; it's all the spurious bad reviews they'll get from "animal lovers" once word gets out.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by butthurt on Thursday November 17 2016, @04:33PM
[...] get free food.[...] fined for trying to steal food. [...] he wanted a free lunch [...]
How does bringing a dog into a restaurant result in getting a meal without paying? The man somehow ordered and ate before the wait-staff noticed the dog?
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 17 2016, @06:51PM
He probably turns it into a "Gimme the meal free or I make a fuss about your questions about my dog" situation. People who pull this kind of thing are just like a guy locally in a wheelchair. He went door to door from business to business, marked down every minor ADA non-compliance he could find, then had his lawyer send out blanket "gimme me money to settle or we'll sue" letters. The guy with the fake service animal just had much lower standards.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Hawkwind on Thursday November 17 2016, @04:51PM
Wait for AC to provide a citation of this incident. Although AC is probably just trolling/having a bit of fun
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 18 2016, @12:40AM
http://restaurantsforsale.com/weblistings/ivens-on-the-bay-brainerd-lakes/ [restaurantsforsale.com]