Sometimes We Service Dog Supporters Are Our Own Worst Enemies

Posted on | May 11, 2009 | No Comments

Many years ago, in one of the Air Force flying units I was assigned to, a bunch of the Spanish linguists (still all male at the time, BTW) were standing around complaining and moaning about how they were getting jobbed (I’ve cleaned that up considerably) by the Air Force, the major command we were in, and the unit – pretty much everybody in the chain of command.

After about five or ten minutes of that, one of the guys, who was also a Spanish linguist but not participating in the griping, finally yelled out, “Enough! Lemme tell you something – we don’t have to worry about everybody else jobbing us because we do such a great job of jobbing ourselves!”

There was complete silence for a few seconds, followed by everybody busting out laughing because they knew he was dead right.

I’ve seen that kind of thing many times in my life, and I’ve been as guilty of it as anybody. So it’s no surprise to me that I’m seeing it right now among some who say they are big service dog advocates.

Here’s the thing…

We already have enough enemies – people who think the whole “service dog thing” is meaningless, or that public access is a bad idea, or just don’t like dogs to begin with. Why help them out by fighting with each other, especially in public?

That doesn’t mean we don’t need to ask pointed questions – we definitely do. I just think we can behave while we’re doing that.

I can’t speak for everybody else, but I can speak for me. I’m gonna continue to ask those pointed questions, and will make every effort to do so politely. Some things – like public access, for example – are sacrosanct to me and if I see anything that appears to even remotely endanger that, chances are pretty good I’m gonna be all over it. That doesn’t mean I have to be rude, and if you think I’m being that way, call me on it – I need you to help keep me straight.