General Fits Of Ignorance

(I have a medical condition that requires a service dog, but it doesn’t keep me from running with her every morning. Part of my route takes me past a high school bus stop. One morning, a mom is dropping their almost-late son off.)

Student: *getting out of his mom’s car* “Hey, it’s the dog guy!” *waves at me like he does every weekday morning*

Me: *waves back*

Student: “Mister, can I ask you something?”

Me: *jogs over* “Sure! What’s up?”

Student: *points to my dog, wearing a blue service vest* “Why do you have a service dog?”

Student’s Mom: *Gasps* “[Student]! What a rude question to ask!”

Me: “Ma’am, it’s okay, really.”

Student’s Mom: “No, it’s not okay for him to offend you like that! It’s very rude to ask people things like that!”

Me: “Really, I’m not offended. I like it when people ask so I can educate others. I have a medic—”

Student’s Mom: “It’s okay. I know you’re disabled so you’re not good at making decisions for yourself.”

Student: *Gapes* “MOM!”

Me: “…I have epilepsy, not a developmental delay, lady.”

Student’s Mom: *turns bright red and zooms off, nearly hitting another car*

Student: “I am so sorry!”

Me: “You’d be surprised; that’s not even the rudest thing I’ve ever been told.”

This story is part of our Epilepsy roundup.

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