For people who are blind or have other disabilities, a service dog can save their lives. These smart dogs were trained to help blind people find their way around by acting as their eyes.
One blind man, however, was shocked when he and his service dog were turned away from a restaurant because a worker thought he was fake disabled.
Seattle’s Paul Castle is blind, but he is lucky to have a service dog named Mr. Maple who can help him get around.
His popular TikTok account, @matthewandpaul, has a lot of funny videos about his life as a blind person. There are a lot of videos of Mr. Maple in action that show how well the dog can find Paul no matter what.
Most of Paul’s videos are funny and light, but in a recent one, he talked about getting kicked out of a restaurant in a more serious way.
“I’m blind, and I just got kicked out of a restaurant in Seattle,” he tells the crowd. He says that an employee told him, “No pets, only service dogs,” after he and Mr. Maple entered the restaurant.
There was a label on Mr. Maple’s harness that said “Guide Dogs for the Blind,” but the worker wasn’t sure if Mr. Maple was a “emotional support dog.”
The worker looked right at Paul and told him, “You don’t look blind.” Paul kept saying that he was blind. Paul said that most blind people can see enough to get by, but he only has a “pinhole of vision.”
The worker didn’t seem to care, saying, “This isn’t my first rodeo,” and they kept doubting him. The worker said they would call the police if Paul came back with the dog’s papers when Paul offered to do so.
“I’m speechless,” Paul said in the end.
A lot of people were angry about the story, including Paul’s fans, people who work with disabled people, and dog lovers in general. A lot of people who commented said that the worker was breaking the law when they wouldn’t let him in and questioned whether he was really blind.
“That is not allowed.” They are only allowed to question you twice. Is this a service dog? What services does your dog know how to do? Some people have said, “Those are the only questions they can legally ask.”
There were many people who asked him to name the restaurant so that they could protest, but he didn’t. He did settle the matter in his own way, though.
In a second video, he said he met with the manager of the restaurant, but the worker from the first fight wasn’t there. Paul told him he didn’t want to file charges or even fire the worker. Instead, he wanted to “understand the spectrum of blindness” and “the importance of (real) service animals.”
Paul found out that the worker had a bad experience with an untrained service dog in the restaurant and didn’t think the man was really blind because he could make eye contact.
Paul said, “I think most people want things to be black or white.” “If you have a disability, they want it to be like the version they’ve seen in movies and TV shows for years. For example, 93% of blind people can see well enough to do everyday things.” “That guy had no idea about that.”
Paul says the employee told him sorry and gave him a nice gift card to the restaurant. His only goal was for the restaurant to learn a lesson, which he thinks they have.
But this isn’t just a one-time thing. A lot of blind people and people who depend on service dogs have to deal with this kind of bias and doubt.
If an Uber driver saw my dog, they would just drive away. Paul told KIRO, “So, it all points to a bigger case.” “But it’s not so much about telling people off as it is about teaching them.”
This blind man getting kicked out of a restaurant is wrong, but we’re glad he got an apology in the end. People should be more understanding of disabled people who use service dogs.
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