Take a stand or back down?

I inadvertently added to a firestorm last week by posting a story about a woman, Becky, who was asked to leave Ann Taylor, a woman’s clothing store in Salt Lake City, Utah because of her guide dog, Cricket.

Becky wrote a blog article about the event and made her story public through various media outlets. In interest of full disclosure, Ann Taylor is maintaining that the dog was not wearing its harness and that the fault resided with Becky, not their sales clerk or manager.  Clearly, Becky disputes that fact.  The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) does not require either a harness or a service vest.  But, Becky uses Cricket to guide her, so the harness is clearly important.

The firestorm … on the blogs … media reports, Facebook posts and reposts was all about the fact that Becky chose to leave the store without creating a scene and “standing up for her rights”.  People were highly critical of her choice and were suggesting that she should have made the decision to stay and advocate for her right to shop in the store with Cricket at her side.

However, as one of the commenters succinctly put it: “having a disability is hard enough, we don’t always choose to set the example at that particular time and place”.

Many people with a service dog do choose to advocate for their rights when they are turned away from someplace they have a legal right to be.  Others, depending on the time of day, the week, or the hour, simply choose to walk away.  We must respect that right as much as we respect their right to public access.