Socializing at the Sparkle Party

The Gender and Sexuality Center at UT is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and is hosting a series of events throughout the year. One of the big events was a Sparkle Party which was held during the first week of classes. Prior to the event I happened to mention to one of the GSC staff members that Morey had no sparkly attire to wear to the party. She promised to save a sparkly top hat for him to wear and, much to Morey's dismay, made good on that promise!

As it happened a colleague from another department had her retirement party on the same evening so first we went to that party before heading over to the Sparkle Party. Certain social environments are difficult for me to navigate and unfortunately this one was one of the more challenging ones due to a combination of factors. There were lots of people there so it was difficult to try to move around the room. The room was pretty loud and because I am so much lower than most people it was hard to hear enough to carry on a conversation. There was cake and punch and most people were holding their plates/drinks while they talked or used high bar tables which I couldn't even reach.


A colleague who sees Morey at meetings a lot commented that he didn't look like himself and she was right. He was not comfortable with the situation either. He kept getting in the way so I was constantly having him move and was afraid to let him lay down lest his tail get stepped on. There were regular tables at the front of the room that no one was using so I decided to start a trend and set up shop at a table. Morey was glad to be settled out of the way and I was able to enjoy my cake and watch the slide show. Eventually someone came over to join me and we struck up a conversation. I guess I haven't figured out the art of mingling in social situations as a wheelchair user.


I felt bad having to take Morey to another social situation but I needed to make an appearance at the Sparkly Party. On the walk over to the building I gave Morey the freedom to sniff and walk more freely to help relieve some of this stress. Thankfully the Sparkle Party was held in a larger venue so there was more room to move around. Feeling slightly guilty at adding to his stress, I did adorn Morey with beads and the sparkly top hat which attracted a good bit of attention and lots of photo opportunities. We even took a turn rocking sparkly sunglasses in the photo booth. Morey does like getting compliments and attention from people so I like to think that made up for the humiliation of wearing his sparkles.

The life of a service dog is not all fun and games and I try to be aware of situations that make Morey nervous or uncomfortable. In some cases there is not a lot I can do to change or avoid the situation but I at least want to be aware of what Morey is communicating to me and do what I can to relieve his stress.