Gratitude | Guide Dog Life | Memoir stories

Are There Still Good People Out There?

With 8 billion of us on the planet, I’d like to believe that there are still good people

Trust the shiny black lab, guide dog Cooper, to cause a stir walking a lady across the street.

Seriously, I’d rather blend in with the crowd while my guide dog and I cross the street making our way from points A to B.

But it’s not every day that people see a service dog with his handler, so it’s understandable that the dog attracts attention.

Cooper and I have crossed paths with a lot of people during the 5 years we’ve been a team, and sadly, more than a few have been rude and just plain crummy human beings.

For example, the guy who wouldn’t take no for an answer and insisted on petting Cooper, until I stepped between him and the dog, then a security officer stepped between the guy and me.

And there was the lady who scolded me for telling her to leave my dog alone when she took the liberty of smooshing his face while on the stairway to the train.

Also, I can’t forget, not just one but several, individuals who’ve told me loudly, that forcing a dog to work was animal abuse. Ouch! That accusation gets to me every time.

In this story of the dog who quit his job, I describe how guide dogs aren’t forced; if Cooper didn’t want to work, he would not work.

I might have lost all faith in humanity if every time I went out with my guide dog, we faced people like the above.

Thank goodness for good people

But fortunately, we have run across a LOT more good people.

For example:

The biker who stopped foot traffic to clear a path through rush-hour chaos and congestion so that Cooper and I could step off the train.

Or the morning a young man who, sensing that I was nervous about standing while the train was moving said, ‘Hey lady, take my hand,’ and showed me to a seat.

I can’t forget about the little girl at Costco who I overheard explaining to her mom that people aren’t supposed to be bothering service dogs. I couldn’t help but thank her.

One more example is the man who saw us standing at the crosswalk in an uncontrolled intersection, and got out of his car to call out, ‘It’s ok to cross now ma’am,’ once traffic had stopped.

Good and caring people like these are only a few examples. If not for them and countless others, I’d have become discouraged after my first week with a guide dog.

Fortunately, for every bad experience with the general public, there have been at least a hundred positive ones.

Yes, there are still good people out there, and I’m taking a minute to say thank you to people who are kind.

It means more than you could ever know, the positive impact kindness can make on a person’s day.

Not just for people like me whose sense of sight exists on borrowed time, but for everyone.

We all need each other, and it takes only a little extra effort to extend a hand, or a word, to someone who needs it at the exact moment you are there.

All of us, will at some point, be grateful for the gesture of kindness that was extended to us at the precise moment we needed it.

Random act of kindness

Remember when ‘random act of kindness’ was a popular phrase? Acts of kindness should still be popular — daily occurrences.

Might we all be alert for opportunities to offer gestures of kindness?

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