Sizzling Spring and Summer Reruns – Air Travel Guide Dog Style by author Ann Chiappetta

Sizzling Spring and Summer Reruns – Air Travel Guide Dog Style by author Ann Chiappetta

Sizzling Spring and Summer Reruns

 

A Publication of Tell-It-To-The-World Marketing (Author, Blogger, Business Assist)

 

By Patty L. Fletcher, Fellow Authors, and Friends

 

 

One day, while enjoying visiting with neighbors and friends, I had a conversation which inspired me.

“Reruns have already begun. But I don’t mind because sometimes I have missed episodes of my favorite shows and now, I can catch up.” a friend of mine said as we stood in the warmth of the golden spring sunshine talking about whether we enjoyed books or TV best. Of course, I launched into telling her about my love for books and about all the totally Talented Authors I represent. Always working you know. Ah, but I digress…

As we talked, in my mind, I heard a CLICK! And just like that inspiration struck.

I have in a folder, over 100 files of things people contributed when we were sending posts to Ernest Dempsey. I have decided to share them onto my blog during the summer months.

Everyone is quite busy this time of year and producing content writing is sometimes hard to squeeze in. So, it’s my hope that people will enjoy these as much as I’m enjoying looking through them and putting them here for you.

The originals of all the posts which will be shared here can be found at:  https://www.recoveringself.com/

I hope that you’ll not only enjoy catching up on posts you may have missed or reading an old favorite, but you’ll also visit Ernest’s blog as well. He and I worked together for many years and because of that working relationship a lot of authors created a great bunch of content which I’m now going to use to help promote them and their continued work. So, grab your favorite brew, find a comfy place to sit to read and enjoy.

If you do, please leave a like, comment or both to let us know you did and if you wish, please feel free to share.

Thanks in advance for reading.

May Harmony find us All. And Blessid shall we Be.

 

Now, here’s author Ann Chiappetta with her Traveling tale.

 

 

Air Travel Guide Dog Style

By Ann Chiappetta

 

One of the most gratifying pastimes I’ve continued to enjoy since becoming a guide dog handler is the increased freedom while traveling. Being able to navigate effortlessly through crowds in the airport or a train station is still amazing even after 15 years of being a guide dog user.

 

It’s not all peaches and cupcakes, though. Just like with anyone else pulling the suitcase and trying to find the front of the check-in line, there is a point when the harness handle is dropped and I seek out human assistance. Here are a few scenarios and yes, these are true stories with the bare minimum of necessary editorial embellishment.

After being directed through the metal detector, the TSA agent swept the wand over my dog and asked,

“What’s in the bag?”

I was confused, didn’t my bags already go through the x ray?

“What bag?” I asked.

She sounded annoyed,

“this one,”

“Which one?”  I said, exchanging her equally annoyed tone with my own, “I am blind, I can’t tell what you are pointing at,”

She didn’t talk. Maybe she left?

“Hello?”

Finally she spoke,

“I mean the red bag on the back of the dog’s back,”

“You mean the harness?” I asked, pointing to my dog.

“Yes,” she answered, sounding unsure.

“Oh, that,” I said, “that’s for the poop bags,”

“Oh,” she said, sounding a little grossed out. I almost burst out laughing. She stepped away and let me through. A thought came to me, maybe She thought that’s where I kept the actual poop not just the bag dispenser.

On the return flight things went in a different direction. I stood at the check-in counter, almost finished, listening to the reservationist typing like the fast and furious meets the six fingered woman on the keyboard. The typing stopped,

: Oh, you have a service animal?”

“Yes, a guide dog,”

“I see …just a sec,” the tornado typing started again, then, “I see you also requested assistance to the gate, I’ll call for someone,” she said, then handed me the boarding pass and checked my bags.

“And here’s your escort,” she said. I turned and heard,

“I take you, no dog,”

“Are you speaking to me?”

“Yes. You sit, I take you, not dog,”

“The dog comes with me and I don’t need the wheelchair, I will walk, follow you,”

“No chair, I don’t take,” he said and I heard him walk away.

The reservationist sounded irritated when I told her what happened. I reminded her of the assist and the access laws for people with disabilities. She called her supervisor, who thankfully swept aside her irritation and personally escorted me to my gate and was a very nice young man. Once I was seated in the waiting area, he asked if he could say hello to my dog. I said yes, thinking at least someone had manners and knew how to help.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

 

 

Ann Chiappetta M.S. author   and poet. Making meaningful connections with others through writing.

Ann’s nonfiction essays have been printed in Dialogue magazine, among others. Her poems are often featured in Poesis, The Pangolin Review and Magnets and Ladders. Her poetry is also included in Breath and Shadow’s 2016 debut anthology, Dozen: The Best of Breath and Shadow.  Her   books, a poetry collection,  C 2016, memoir,  Follow Your Dog a Story of Love and Trust C 2017,  Words of Life: Poems and Essays   C 2019, and short story collection,  A String of Stories From the Heart to the Future C 2020  are available in both e book and print formats from www.ann.chiappetta.com

 

CONTACT…

 

Email: anniecms64@gmail.com

Website:  www.annchiappetta.com

 

 

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