Terrier Tuesday -- Alpha CARTed The President of the United States, And All I Got Were These Lousy Photos

Dear Readers,

You might have read in the papers or saw on TV that the President of the United States came flying in on Air Force One to our little state last Friday, and yep, you guessed it, Alpha was gone for a long time, and yep, you guessed it, she claims that she did her ticky-tacky job that she does on that funky machine right there in the room where the president was! 

She said it was really interesting, and she loved listening to the president and says he has a very cute smile. And there were a LOT of people there. And lots of those guys like you see in the movies with little plastic cords coming out from their ears and down their big strong necks into their black suits, who don't smile much (but smile a little sometimes) and stand still like statues and then move around the room and shoot their eyes around, and there were lots of other men in the back with flak jackets and big guns and big dogs, not like little Yorkies at all, and... and...and... 

Well, I'm a little bit breathless just trying to tell it all to you. It was very, very exciting and fun. Well, for Alpha, it was. For me, it was just like a regular day, lying in my bed, safe in my pen, while she was gone. You know. 

Sadly, Alpha's captions were not displayed up on big screens for everyone to see. Nor were they applied to the live stream of the event that was put on the internet by the local paper. Alpha is just a teeny bit peeved about that, because she thinks that the ADA -- you know, if it were a person like corporations are -- would have a thing or two to say about that. 

The captions were only done for Ally, because out of a crowd of 4,400 or so people, she was the ONLY ONE who asked for it, because we all know that not enough people realize that they can ask for it, and sadly we have not evolved as a civilization enough for the organizers of these events to think it is appropriate to provide captions universally, even if they are not asked (or oftentimes even if they ARE) so that the approximately 1 in 7 people present for this thing... and if we do the math, that would be approximately ... um.... let me count.... about 600 people who were there, statistically speaking, who had hearing loss and maybe even more who probably would have benefited from captions. But Alpha says DON'T GET HER STARTED. You know how she can get when she starts getting on her soapbox about equal access for all, and all that. 

But anyway, she promised to take photos, but then she yelled at me afterwards, saying, "Look, I was WORKING, all right?! I could only take a tiny few photos before anything really got started. Coz after it got started, I had to pay attention and be writing on that funny machine! Sheesh."

So here's what we got:

This is Ally, taking a photo of the stage.

Our distinguished, and very popular, Senator Leahy, is arriving. So is the perhaps-even-more-popular Bernie Sanders, but she didn't even seem to get a picture of him.

See, there is her CART setup for Ally and the few people who were lucky enough to be standing right behind her, who really wanted to read the captions -- including one Secret Service man who was quite intrigued.

And look at the great seats they had! Only a very few people had seats -- a few of the people who paid primo amounts for tickets, and people who had disabilities. The rest was standing room only. 

Alpha was a little miffed, if you must know, about the people who were clearly gaming the system. Indeed, there were people in there who were infirm and in wheelchairs who needed to sit in that area. The others were just clearly experienced at breaking the rules. Oh yes, they were definitely disabled enough to sit there, but as soon as things started, they sure could stand in front of her table to take pictures, blocking her and Ally's view. She tapped on their shoulders and asked them to move over or sit down. And when it was time to leave, you should just have SEEN how able-bodied many of them were, able to jump over her table, over her cables on the floor, between the very narrow spaces where they weren't supposed to go, and over gates to get out of there fast. Uh-huh.

Sigh.

Alpha guesses there are always going to be people like that who are put on this earth just to piss her off, and that just goes to show you why she says she hates people. 

 

But lucky for me, she loves Yorkies.

Love,

 

Mr. Jefferies

Comments

[Beverly]

What a cool experience, despite the idiots who don't know how to behave.

[Martha]

Norma, I wonder if there are union or copyrighting rules that prevent the paper from sending your captions over their live internet feed? Maybe you need to make a separate deal with the paper in advance to sign off on it. Just a thought...

[gayle]

Woohooo for Alpha!
(Tell her she should have t-shirts made up that say "Norma CARTed me, and all I got was this lousy t-shirt." I'm sure the Prez would wear one...)

[--Deb]

Norma, that is so, so cool!!

[Seanna Lea]

I know it wouldn't help everything, but I wouldn't be surprised if Sanders would be willing to sponsor legislation to make it a requirement that government meetings that were being made available to the public be CARTed. This is also one of those areas that I think the President would be willing to say yes to, because it is very egalitarian.

[Mary K. in Rockport]

Wowie, kazowie, you are so lucky! (For one awful moment, I thought that the guy who turned out to be Leahy was Cheney - cursed be his name.)Yeh, some people are pushy like that. It always irks me when adults push in front of children at our parades and local Christmas Pageant. Someone almost pushed my little daughter into the harbor one year when Santa was arriving by boat. People can be jerks - some people, a minority I like to think. (Except for the "other" party - they are all jerks.)

[Becky]

I have been checking in every day since your last post! I knew the Prez was visiting, and I just knew you were going to be there! How exciting! I think the Prez has a perfect smile, but I've never seen it in person like you. Aren't you proud of being able to provide that service? I would be over the moon.
Yes, there are jerks everywhere. I like to think they are provided for comparisons' sake so that we realize how nice some of us are and of how important it is to be a socialized human. But, it feeds my misanthropy. People, bah!

[Sandy]

Mr. J, your Alpha has the COOLEST job!

[Lindsey]

Did you notice the cool sweaters people were wearing in the second photo? Almost as wonderful as your sweaters Mr J.

[Robin V]

Wow, that is such a cool story!

[Natalie]

What an amazing experience. Too bad more weren't able to benefit from Alpha's hard work.

[Kristen]

I'm behind in my pleasure reading, so a belated WWWWWWOOOOO-HOOOOO FOR ALPHA!