Saturday Lost

Today has been one of those lost Saturdays. I had a meeting at 1:30 which really prevented me from doing anything else. So I got up and dressed in slacks ad hung round till it was time to go to the meeting.

This morning we had both granddaughters so we did SHREK and STAR WARS IV. The dog has been be side herself with excitement to the point that Anakah tied Ginger up on her new leash to one of the power wheelchairs, and oddly enough Ginger been fairly compliant. She will focus and bark and whine for a while but soon will be good which is the same as being quiet. By 12:30 Dianne was up from her short nap and were half way through SWIV and I had to get going to the meeting I had been drafted into.

I had been to called a special meeting of the Board of Directors of West Branch Home Owners Association—a condominium complex on the cities westside. The instigator of the meeting is a woman who trains service animals, specifically dog for people with disabilities. I have communicated with her for years but I have never really met her in person. It's funny how you build an image of a person and how that image is dashed when you finally meet the individual in person.

Annie is a post middle aged women with shoulder length silver hair. Annie easily could be a lost child of the Sixties. She resents authority and takes on the establishment in behalf of the “little guy” more often then not people with disabilities. Annie wants to force her condominium into access compliance. There were about six folks there five in sympathy with Annie and one the Association rep, Mark , a big guy who you could tell pays the bills. Mark was all quiet and serious wearing shorts on one of the coldest days of the year.

I felt kind of bad because I know Annie had invited me to this meeting as the “ big ADA guy” “ the governor's disability rep. Annie wanted me to bring down the wrath of the ADA on these violators. Sorry, but I don't work that way even if I could. Annie yammered on about a whole lot of bleeding heart stuff about people in the condo community who have been hit by cars because the wheelchair user had been forced into the street. The place only has thirty open parking spaces and Annie wanted five of them designated as “handicapped” parking. I informed them that to be in compliance they only had to designate one space. I was surprised when Annie did not have a “melt down.”. Annie quickly accepted my input and gratefully moved on.

I mercifully brought the meeting to a close after about an hour. It seemed like a good place to close, Mark , the big guy, was more or less smiling realizing I was not there to draw financial blood., Annie was happy that I had shown up and seemed to support her agenda. I promised the group I wanted to come back when the weather was warmer and the snow was off the the sidewalks and streets and I would be happy to do a roll through and offer other suggestions for bringing access to their community without breaking their bank. If I do this right I can talk them into a BBQ too.