b........7

I brought my therapy dog with me because that’s what you do with a therapy dog. I had a long drive and it was 70 degrees when we left. I admit I didn’t account for how much the temp would rise on the drive, but I wasn’t really worried about leaving my dog in the car because I’m never inside NTI for longer than a few minutes because of their waitlist system. It was a two hour wait, so we went to the dog park after we got into Milan and then just drove around waiting for the text telling me it was my turn to come in. When I did receive my message, I was surprised to see a line outside. Isn’t the waitlist to prevent a line? I didn’t know they’re dog friendly so I parked my car with my back end in the shade and left the windows down. Again, I’ve never been in there longer than a few minutes and didn’t know they’re dog friendly. Even though they were “ready” for me, I waited in line for about 15-20 minutes - maybe the amount of time if not longer that I would typically spend inside. I get almost to the front when the security dude asks me if I am the one with the silver car with a dog in it. I verified the car is mine and he started explaining how it’s against company policy for them to allow animals to be left in a car when the temp is above 68 degrees. Wow. You know, a better way to go about that would be to say “well go get your dog! We’re animal friendly!” Instead, he inadvertently announced to all were listening - which is everyone BTW because he’s who announces when they get to go inside - that what I was doing was animal abuse and I either needed to go get him, because they are, in fact, dog friendly, or leave. First of all, I respect that they respect animals, but I sincerely didn’t know 68 degrees was the highest temp a dog can be left in the car with the windows down and in the shade before it’s no longer safe, comfortable for my babe, or acceptable. Walking back to my car, I began to cry a little because I didn’t realize I may have unintentionally been hurting my dog when he saved me every day for the last ten years. I was embarrassed - humiliated, actually. I wasn’t prepared for the situation, but we had driven quite a distance to get there and I didn’t want leave empty handed. I didn’t have a leash but I had his seatbelt, so I used it as an incredibly short leash. My dog is very old by the way, and deaf. Directing him to do anything anymore is a lost cause. Half the time he doesn’t seem to know where he is in our own home. Because of this, he was trying to wander off a very short “leash” but it looked more like I was dragging my poor dog around making him choke, which certainly doesn’t make me look any less like an animal abuser. The security guard let me come back to the front of the line but made sure to point out I was holding my makeshift leash wrong and there are better ways to do it. I just can’t do anything right, can I? The whole visit went really poorly. I suggested to the dude perhaps he could be a little more discreet if that scenario should arise again because I was truly unaware that it was too warm outside and it was incredibly hard to come back in there after being humiliated. He looked at me as if he felt pity for me, and then continued about his business without saying a word. Then I got in line and stood with a group of people who only know me as a woman who leaves dogs in hot cars. It’s over right? Wrong. The rest is just a bummer. I want something to help calm my anxiety and help me sleep. The cannabis connoisseur I got didn’t ask me what I was looking for or offer assistance in any way. I go to them and am willing to pay for their knowledge. Since my last visit, they’ve installed tablets you scroll through instead of giving you a paper menu to look through. The paper menus had minimal info, and the person assisting you has to know and explain bit about the ones you inquire about, and they’re generally really helpful. I didn’t understand anything I was reading on the tablet. I told her I thought was looking for an indica so she set the search parameters to only show indica strains, but she didn’t elaborate on any of them. When I asked if she could clarify a bit more about them, she agreed, but the only thing she said about any of them were that they taste really good. That’s…not really important to me. I could feel myself becoming less of a pleasant person by the second, so picked something random because I really wanted to get out of there. The employee was delighted to let me go in blind. I also want to mention I own a pretty high tech scale and I have never purchased a 3.5 jar of flower from them that actually weighed 3.5. It’s usually 3 flat. As I said, I go to them for their knowledge, which has now apparently been replaced by a tablet. I certainly don’t go for their good prices or value. On a positive note, the woman working the check in counter and letting people on the sales floor was super friendly.