Thread by @FlirtyTheSH

It’s almost 1 am and I can’t sleep, so I’m going to tell you a story. I want to tell you about Allergy Lady.

After a long day of training with my #servicedog friends, I stopped at the grocery store on the way home. I was picking out some pastries when I saw her. 1/

She was middle aged and fairly non-description. I don’t even remember her hair color. What I do remember is that she had the familiar pose of someone who was sneaking closer to take a picture, phone held ready.

In case you don’t know, taking pics of service animals is rude. 2/

I held up a hand and said, “no photos, please,” for the millionth time that day.

I was shocked at what happened next.

Instead of putting the phone down, she took the pic anyway & snapped, “I’m allergic to animals,” stopping less than 10 feet away from me. 3/

Now, I’ve run into people who are allergic to horses before. Normally, they say they are allergic as they scurry away. I apologize, say I’ll stay away from them, and spend the rest of my shopping trip peering around corners of aisles to make sure I don’t go near them. 4/

Instead of doing that, this woman came closer to take a picture (after being specifically asked not to), and then stopped to rant at me. She didn’t just stop at saying she was allergic.

“I find it unacceptable that you have that [Flirty] in here,” she continued. 5/

“Well, if you’re allergic, maybe you shouldn’t be coming closer to take a picture,” I pointed out, moving Flirty so she was behind me.

“I’m going to report this!” She continued, her tone getting harsher.

The conversation wasn’t going anywhere good, so I tried to move on. 6/

She wasn’t having it, though. “What is that, like a guide dog?” She demanded.

“She’s a service animal, like guide dogs are,” I answered, feeling a panic attack welling up. Flirty, to her credit, did what she should in case of an altercation- nothing. She was totally still. 7/

“But is it like a guide dog?” She insisted.

“I’m not blind, obviously, but she is a different type of service animal,” I told her. And I just walked away, worried that I was going to snap and lash out (verbally or physically, I didn’t know which). 8/

I wandered the aisles for a few minutes, fighting severe dissociation and a major panic attack. I was terrified I was going to turn a corner and run into her again. Eventually, Flirty made me sit down, and it got so severe that my vision started to blur and I got dizzy. 9/

I checked out after I could get up again. I thought about talking to the manager, who knows and likes Flirty and me, but getting out of there was my chief concern.

I had to sit in my car for over 10 minutes to finish my panic attack before I could drive home. 10/

Folks, I get that allergies suck. I have pretty bad ones, myself. In fact, that’s why I don’t have a service dog. But those of us with service dogs/mini horses have just as much right to be in a store as you do. 11/

If you are seriously allergic to a service animal, let the handler know POLITELY and we will do our best to stay away from you.

DO NOT APPROACH TO PHOTOGRAPH OUR ANIMALS, OR TO THREATEN US WITH “REPORTING.” It is our legal right to be in public with our service animals. 12/

In many states, behaving as this woman did could easily be classified as harassing or interfering with a service animal/handler. In my state, I would have been within my rights to have her charged with a misdemeanor for her behavior. 13/

Beyond the legality of it, please consider that you could be doing serious harm to the handler by being confrontational. It’s not uncommon for handlers to have stress induced conditions (including seizures, cardiac events, and more). 14/

We aren’t here to harm you and we don’t have our service animals for fun. We are just disabled folks, trying to buy some milk and using our federally protected medical assistance which we often can’t live without. #allergies #servicedog #serviceminihorse #ada 15/15