(r/entitledpeople) So a little bit of backstory here, I have a few disorders that make it hard for me to do things alot of people find easy like going out side, cooking and even talking on the phone. The disorders I have are: PTSD, Social Anxiety and Panic Disorder so I need to have a service dog with me at all times since my panic attacks can get pretty bad.
A couple of days ago I had went to my local Asda (which is a British shop) and brought my service dog, Apollo, with me. The people who work there know me well and tend to make sure that the music isn't to loud or nobody is bothering Apollo.
That particular day EM and EK where there at the front entrance. The EK had seen Apollo and run up to me asking if he could pet him and I explained that he was currently working the best I could
Me: "Oh I'm sorry but my dog is currently working, he helps me to be safe while I'm in public and it could be a danger if he gets distracted."
The EK nods and runs back to EM and explains this while I walk inside.
I get greeted by my best friend who works there and we talk for a while before I get back to what I came for (which happened to be a new harness for Apollo since his last one snapped and started to become harmful to him.)
As soon as I walk into the pet isle I hear a very obnoxious "AHEM" from behind me. I turn around and notice the EK and EM. Originally I thought that me and Apollo where in the way so I moved out of their path and apologised.
The EM glares at me as she walks right up to me which makes me very uncomfortable and Apollo starts to signal me to move away but I ignore him for a little bit which was a big mistake.
EM: "Let my son pet your dog right now or im telling a worker you brought it in!"
Me: "Ma'am this is a service dog, he is legally aloud to be in here and I can't let you pet him, it could distract him from tasking."
EM: "Oh come on! I know that it's not a REAL service dog! I saw him jumping up on you!"
One of the signals that I had trained Apollo to do was one for a panic attack. The signal was to jump up on me so that it could ground me a little bit. I was currently still training him to do it so that he can get used to it quickly
Me: "That is one of the signals that I trained him to use for a panic attack so I think you are mistaken."
At this point Apollo had been signalling me but I hadn't realised this. That's when everything went south. The EM grabbed Apollo's leash and pulled him over which actually made him fall over although he kept his focus on me like I trained him to. Now that I look back on the situation I think that he thought this was a training exercise.
The EM leads Apollo AWAY from me and let's her EK pet him which like I said many times before, did indeed distract him. At this point I could feel my hands starting to shake as I tried to get Apollo's leash again but the EM was not having it and screamed that "I was trying to steal her dog" and alot of other stuff.
My best friend heard the yelling from the front of the shop and ran to where it was coming from. Her eyes widened as she saw what was happening.
Friend: "Excuse me miss, why do you have my friends service dog? He needs to keep with his owner in case she gets a panic attack." She noticed the fact that my hands where shaking and sat me down on the floor where I proceeded to curl into a small ball.
The rest of it was a blur since I was focusing on trying to regulate my breathing and the next thing I knew was that Apollo's head was on my knees as well as his paw. I started to calm down a little bit knowing that he was ok but I could still barley hear the yelling from my friend and EM as well as EK screaming that he wanted to pet Apollo.
After about 30 minutes of this the manager came out and told EM to leave the building and not to return to this particular one. Still the EM would not leave but after 20 minutes or so, she reluctantly left with an upset EK. The manager crouched down to my level as well as my friend and makes sure I'm alright after the whole ordeal since he knows one of my triggers are fighting and yelling. I nodded and told him that I will be fine and he left, leaving me and my best friend to sit and talk for a while with Apollo laying in my lap.