The Gatekeepers of Entitlement
A story I was following over the weekend came to a conclusion that, while not exactly happy, felt a little like justice.
A family whose little boy has a rare form of of epilepsy called Landau-Kleffner Syndrome made a reservation at a Louisiana hotel, but after the mother placed a courtesy call to the hotel informing them that their son requires the use of a service dog, the hotel cancelled the reservation, claiming the facility was not “pet friendly”. A hotel worker confirmed to one reporter that they are aware of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which covers service animals, but said they are unable to defy the instructions they receive from the owner of the hotel. (Apparently that worker has been fired, reportedly for speaking to the media.) This incident doesn’t appear to be a case where the hotel was ignorant of the ADA. Apparently, they simply chose not to follow it, which is more common than you might think.
Last Thursday, in response to news stories about the incident, the corporate office of Best Western Hotels decided to restrict the Baton Rouge hotel from using the Best Western brand name. The hotel will be required to stop representing itself as a Best Western, including covering or removing all its Best Western signs and logos, until a hearing can be held at corporate headquarters, at which time the hotel’s future association with the brand will be decided.
It’s an encouraging story, at least in my opinion, because it shows a company making the right choice, not just to be compassionate but also to follow a very hard-fought law that provides protections to people with disabilities. Best Western would have been within their rights to play the whole “our hotels are independently owned, don’t look at us, go after that jerk, why don’tcha?” angle. But they were concerned enough about the reputation of their brand and what they want it to stand for that they took a pretty hard line.
This is the kind of teeth the ADA should have. You can argue that the hotel should be motivated by human decency, not federal law, to accommodate the needs of the disabled. I’d agree with that statement, obviously. While we’re making wishes, we should all have a cold bottle of chocolate milk delivered to our door every morning, too, maybe by a panda or a guy riding a unicorn. Given the world in which we live, I’ll take this as a positive story.
All in all, a swell story,but for that age-old internet rule. Never read the comments.
A recurring theme in the comments section of every iteration of this story that I’ve seen online is suspicion. Is this REALLY a service dog? Like, a FOR REAL service dog? Because I’ve heard that a lot of people dress up their dog in a little vest so they can bring them wherever they want. Who’s out there making sure that all these service dogs are legit? I thought they were for blind people. Do people with epilepsy or PTSD really need a service animal?
While I agree that charlatans who create fake service animals are Bad People, I also personally think they’re probably mostly apocryphal. They seem to largely fall into the category of “I’ve heard about…” or “I know someone who saw…” They seem to hang out in the same places as all those people committing voter fraud. I believe these stories aren’t so much about a great scam being perpetrated, but rather are products of a great public fear, one that seems to grip Americans most of all.
It’s the suspicion that somewhere out there, SOMEONE is getting away with SOMETHING.
It’s the persistent American narrative, as enduring as George Washington’s cherry tree. People on welfare are just leeching off the system; they don’t actually want jobs. I saw a lady taking food stamps out of her Gucci purse. I’m not going to give that homeless guy any money, he’ll just spend it on drugs or booze. Poor people shouldn’t have smartphones. Fat people at Walmart shouldn’t dress like they’re sexy.
People with disabilities get it particularly bad. That mother is just letting her kid have a huge meltdown right here in Target, ruining my shopping experience. That kid is way too big to be in a stroller; his permissive parents are just encouraging him to be lazy. Why does that guy have a handicapped parking sticker? He looks fine to me. That doesn’t look like a service dog to me; I’ll bet they just made that vest so they could bring their dog on the plane. You just know those special education kids in inclusive classrooms can’t understand anything; they shouldn’t be taking time and attention away from the kids who can learn and amount to something one day.
We are so convinced that we have a right to know and understand every single scenario that we see. We are offended by nuance, and confused by invisible impairment. We are the gatekeepers of entitlement (a word that is itself loaded with judgment), and if there’s one thing we cannot stand, it’s the idea that someone with a disadvantage somewhere is getting something that we don’t think they deserve.
This is just my opinion, which you are of course free to disregard completely. But I believe this attitude makes us a very, very ugly people.
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About The Author
Rob
Robert Rummel-Hudson is the author of "Schuyler’s Monster: A Father’s Journey with His Wordless Daughter", which tells the story of raising a little girl with a disability and learning to become the father she needs. It was published in February 2008 by St. Martin’s Press.
Very true. My inflammatory arthritis is met with skepticism because I’m young and appear outwardly healthy. My sister has been railed on for using handicapped parking innumerable times when people don’t see her son in a wheelchair in the back. As if people have to *see* the disability to believe its existence. Things like epilepsy or PTSD aren’t hanging out in the open most of the time like blindness, so of course the need is less real. Sigh.
I agree with every single sentence. I can’t read internet comments anymore, it’s too much of an assault. My son has a service dog and though we’ve never run into a problem like this one, I’m sure we get silently judged by people all the time since his disability isn’t immediately outwardly obvious. Luckily, we are able to let our dog interact with the public and this has given us a chance to really help educate people everywhere we go. But it’s totally exhausting.
It seems like there is a vast amount of people in our society who look at everything they see and hear with a negative slant. Their lives are bleak and they aren’t going to give anyone the benefit of the doubt because dammit! no one gives THEM anything (without realizing that with attitudes like theirs, who would?). It’s disheartening, so say the least.
I take my WIC coupons out of my Coach bag. And not that I have to justify myself to anyone, but the purse was a gift and is about 4 years old–from a time before we qualified for WIC. But I guess once you qualify for any type of assistance you should immediately throw all your nicer things in the trash.
My daughter has a service dog, one that came from a service dog company and for which we raised $18,000 and spent two weeks with the dog trainer in our home so he could certify us as service dog handlers. The dog goes everywhere with her, on airplanes, in hotels and we even maintain her water rescue skills by training at a local pool (with permission). I have been approached a handful of times since we got her in 2012 by people asking me where I got the vest because they want to get one for their dog. It does make my blood boil because I know that if people do get little vests made for their non-service dogs and service dogs get a bad name from it, then everyone with a legitimate service dog will suffer for it. Like people misusing the Disneyland Guest Assistance Pass and now we can’t get them for our kids anyway, who really can’t spend 7 hours in a hot park standing in line for 5 rides because of medical conditions. But anyway, I give these people the name of our service dog company and tell them that they too can get a dog just like ours, with a prescription for a recognized disability and approx $18,000 of fundraising, just like we did.
I have a cousin who has a fake service dog. She is a really selfish person and it makes me angry to see her cheat the ADA system because she’s just doesn’t like to board her dog.
Don’t forget the part where those of us who need accomodations internalize all the nasties and spend weeks and months and years steeped in guilt for asking for the thing that we really do need and deserve, because the gatekeepers have us convinced that everyone with that thing is cheating and no one is legitimate, especially not us.