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Join the contestFor those who truly need and benefit from service animals, my apologies right up front. This isn't about you.
With that out of the way, I have to say that I'm seeing more and more service animals everywhere, and the skeptic in me has begun to think that the "Service Animal" class is rapidly becoming the next, "Look at me, I'm special" craze for those who would otherwise be unnoticed and uninteresting.
My wife was in the grocery store the other day and there was a woman buying groceries, with a Great Dane.
She seemed otherwise normal and ordinary, but what kind of condition does she have whereas she can't go the grocery store with a horse-sized dog?
Yesterday we went out to eat at a small cafe. A group of people were seated next to us and one of them had a large and somewhat smelly dog.
The dog laid down between their table and ours. It was essentially non-existent, other than the smell and the fact that my brother had to step over it. So what was the point of it being there? Emotional support? Was she going be suicidal in a group of six without it? It smelled like a dog. Not really what you want when dining out.
My sister-in-law told us about kids bringing their service dogs to school with them. She's a substitute teacher and tutor.
Same thing. The dogs didn't really do anything other than flop down in the floor and be in the way.
The teachers and aids had to make sure the dogs were accommodated as needed with water, bathroom breaks, etc.
Can people just be people anymore, and forgo the labels and the weird things that make them "special and different?"
I have a young friend I've been trying to help with some things. She's constantly citing her "weirdness" her "white privilege" guilt, her "sexual abnormalities", her "I may be slightly Autistic or have Asperger's", and I keep telling her, "Just be you. Be a person. Drop the stupid labels and just be you. Some people will like you and others may not. That's life. You shouldn't allow your most immutable traits to define you. Why would you?"
OK. I guess that was a rant. See opening statement.
He’s awesome. Really gentle when he’s “working”. But typical goofy lab when he isn’t.Max looks like a winner to me..........
I too wonder about people that service animals. I grew up on a small farm that provided for our table. I never once thought of servicing those animals. However I have seen reports of some persons forcing their services on animals. Apparently they aren't very hungry.For those who truly need and benefit from service animals, my apologies right up front. This isn't about you.
With that out of the way, I have to say that I'm seeing more and more service animals everywhere, and the skeptic in me has begun to think that the "Service Animal" class is rapidly becoming the next, "Look at me, I'm special" craze for those who would otherwise be unnoticed and uninteresting.
My wife was in the grocery store the other day and there was a woman buying groceries, with a Great Dane.
She seemed otherwise normal and ordinary, but what kind of condition does she have whereas she can't go the grocery store with a horse-sized dog?
Yesterday we went out to eat at a small cafe. A group of people were seated next to us and one of them had a large and somewhat smelly dog.
The dog laid down between their table and ours. It was essentially non-existent, other than the smell and the fact that my brother had to step over it. So what was the point of it being there? Emotional support? Was she going be suicidal in a group of six without it? It smelled like a dog. Not really what you want when dining out.
My sister-in-law told us about kids bringing their service dogs to school with them. She's a substitute teacher and tutor.
Same thing. The dogs didn't really do anything other than flop down in the floor and be in the way.
The teachers and aids had to make sure the dogs were accommodated as needed with water, bathroom breaks, etc.
Can people just be people anymore, and forgo the labels and the weird things that make them "special and different?"
I have a young friend I've been trying to help with some things. She's constantly citing her "weirdness" her "white privilege" guilt, her "sexual abnormalities", her "I may be slightly Autistic or have Asperger's", and I keep telling her, "Just be you. Be a person. Drop the stupid labels and just be you. Some people will like you and others may not. That's life. You shouldn't allow your most immutable traits to define you. Why would you?"
OK. I guess that was a rant. See opening statement.
Serious question - For those who have animals for emotional support, what kind of shit do they go through when that animals dies? Odds are the animal goes before the person does. So what kind of a mess does that leave them in?
Finally, there's the folks who get these fake certificates to save them on the airfare to take their animal on vacation with them. That's where the airliens started calling bullshit on peacocks and squirrels. Give me a fucking break.
I would hate to imagine what they go through. My wife has depression and she got a chihuahua to help her when she moved a few hours away for work as a teenager. She became very attached and after 12 years the dog had to be put down this year. She hasn't been the same and had struggled with it for the last 8 months. She just went to the doctor to see about changing meds yesterday. I knew it would be bad but not this rough for her.
I thought a new dog would help but she hated him because he is a high strung little fucker. The last dog was content smuggling and going for a short walk a few times a day. Needless to say, that made things worse. I don't know what to do with her at this point because she is still an emotional train wreck and can start crying at any moment. I grew attached to the little dog but I've been down this road before. I'm scared to see how bad she will be when her parents are gone.
Would your wife be a bit happier for example with a large dog that liked to cuddle up in bed beside her all night, or curl up at her feet on a soft mattress (or sit beside her on the couch) for several hours as she read / watched TV etc?
As to when her parents die, two different people I knew had wives that seemed normal, till a parent died and then the gates of crazy town locked open.