Now, what am I going on about today? This Guardian article. Basically, a blind lady was challenged for bringing a guide dog into a Tesco store.
So, let us look at the elements:
A visually challenged lady,
A dog in a harness and
A mature student.
Oh, hang on, should that read:
A visually challenged lady,
A dog in a harness and
A mature student who is registered as blind!
We, in this country, are not necessarily taught the fact that a dog wearing a harness with a metal handle is helping the person attached to it. Although, somehow, we all learn it.
The image is enough, we don't need the new(ish) style lead with the words "GUIDE DOG" on a bright yellow flag! This is a Guide Dog, this dog will be attached to a person with extremely poor or no sight. This is NOT a pet, this is NOT a family dog, this is a WORKING dog, this is a dog that will not do something to endanger the health of other shoppers.
Tesco's insulting voucher is not enough. Tesco's management should grab the cashier by the scruff of the neck, frog-marched to Ms Makri's front door and made to get down on her knees and give an apology that includes her resignation.
I wonder where this (hopefully former) cashier is from. Obviously a country where the blind are hidden from view, where disabled are kept in institutions, a country where the disabled are not acknowledged.
Or, is this cashier actually visually impaired, and as such is she able to perform her duties? Is the disability held by the one behind the counter, not in front? Is discrimination of the disabled not a disability in itself? After all, the discriminator is not able to see that the person is human? They have the disability!
