The CCI Crab Feast

A crab feast might sound like a very strange place for somebody who is unable to eat to be but that's just where I found myself last night. Ordinarily I would avoid such an event since watching people eat is a little bit of a torturous thing but I wouldn't miss it since all the proceeds go to my favorite organization Canine Companions for Independence the wonderful organization that gave me my precious Lynelle. The yearly crab feast held at the Placer County Fairgrounds in the Roseville California is a massive event where hundreds of people who support the organization gather to celebrate and Dine. Besides a delicious feast of crab and shrimp there was a silent auction, a raffle with amazing prizes, and lots of time to mingle and talk to me others who share your passion for the CCI organization. There were at least 300 people there and many many dogs some of whom were in training others were graduate dogs for people like me. This is my first year attending since this is my first year with Lynelle. I attended the event with my mother and my wonderful aunt whom I adore. Since I was not able to eat I didn't have to pay, I just gave my ticket to my aunt so she could enjoy the meal and I just had a smoothly from Jamba Juice to give me a little something to snack on. I am able to drink liquids afterall. The first thing I did is check out the silent auction. After browsing through the various pieces of art and sports and movie memorabilia I came across a very charming painting of three labradors sitting in a row, one chocolate covered, one yellow lab, and one black and they each had a puppy sitting in front of them of the same color which appear to be the same adult dogs only younger. I looked at the sheet and the starting bid was $175 which is a little steep for my income level but I did anyway assuming that I probably would never win I thought for sure someone would come along and outbid me but guess what it never happened I ended up winning the expensive artwork! Lucky for me my mother stepped in to purchase it for me, I will take her back I promise so don't get the wrong idea. I was stunned but the same time happy that I won the beautiful painting. It will be the perfect edition to my bedroom above my headboard. Between placing my bid and winning at the end of the night alot had happened, some pleasent and some downright disturbing. On the positive side I got to meet a variety of incredibly nice women who knew Lynelle as a puppy, they all had very pleasent things to say about her. Now for the not so pleasent. While waiting with my family for the crab meal I had to go to the bathroom. Now you gotta be thinking what's the big deal about that? Ordinarily nothing for the average person but wen your disabled it's a whole different ballgame. When I'm out and about with my Dad it's no problemo as long as theres an accessible bathroom we just cruise into the mens room and he helps me do my buisness. This time hovever I was with my mom so simply cruising into the mens room insn't a viable option. What we do in this situation is have a man go into the restroom to make sure it's empty then we have someone in this case my aunt to guard the door and politly ask any patrons to wait for us to finish our buisness. This usually works fine as people are usually very understanding. This time however my aunt was confronted by an extremely beligerant man who wanted to have none of what was going on. As my mom and I were finishing up we heard yelling coming from outside. The mn was going on and on yelling "WHOEVER IS IN THERE BETTER GET THE HELL OUT!!" "I HAVE A BLADDER PROBLEM" "YOU CAN'T CLOSE DOWN THE ****** BATHROOM!" as we left the restroom my aunt told him "Don't you feel ashamed of yourself?" and the crazed man replied "NO I DON'T" "I HAVE A BLADDER PROBLEM PROBABLY WORSE THAN HIS" I was livid and above all horrified, it took everything I had to bite my tongue all I said was "there's no need to get upset" then I just drove by and left the man standing there like the ignorant fool he was. In all of my life I never experienced such hostility and I'm left stunned. I could have easily let the encounter ruin my night but I refused to let it. I went on mingling while sipping my delicous mango smoothy which really took my mind off the delicious delicacies being devoured around me. After the meal it was time for the highly anticipated raffle. I didn't win but my aunt did she won a $40 fire/watertight safe. After the raffle it was announced that the silent auction was over so I rushed over to the table where I placed the bid and saw only my name. I had won the auction! That was the end of a mosly funfilled evening. I look forward to doing it all over again next March. Aside from any please excuse my language a**holes. Thanks for reading Mitch Ball's World