Polly Want A Cracker?

While I am not a frequent WM shopper, I will occasionally pick up a roll of paper towels or Windex there. In our WM it is often easier to cut through the produce/food department to get to cleaning supplies since the main aisle is often clogged up with fatties looking at super deals on chips or clothes for their 10 kids. Well, as I was walking through produce one day, I heard a “squawk!”. I turned around to see a man with a parrot on his shoulder (no harness or anything, just on his shoulder), and bird poop down his back. I was in somewhat shock, wondering how exactly this man even got his parrot into the store. That’s when I saw him pluck a grape out of the bagged grapes, and hand it to the parrot. The bird ate most of the grape, but flung part of it to the floor. Then the man handed it another grape, which it partially ate flung onto the floor, and another which it didn’t even eat, it just kind of chewed on, flung it and it landed on a pile of apples. Then the bird pooped right on the floor and really started squawking. By that time, he had caught the attention of quite a few other shoppers, and a store employee approached him and asked him to leave immediately. He then began shouting about how they could not legally make him leave, since this was his SERVICE PARROT! He must’ve been prepared for this sort of situation, because he reached in his pocket and pulled out some sheet of paper he was explaining was a copy of the law regarding service animals, and that they had to allow him to have his bird. The employee told him service animal or not, he had to leave or they would report him for theft of the grapes. He picked the bird off his shoulder, sat it down on the produce stand, and started walking out. The employee chased after him, and told him he couldn’t leave the bird there. He turned around and said “you said I had to leave, not my bird!”. The employee told him she was calling security if he didn’t take his bird and immediately leave. He picked up his bird, and told her he was going to the cops to report them for discrimination since he needed his service animal, and they were not allowing him to have it with him. It was by FAR one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen. I felt bad for the poor parrot too, with an owner like that, who knows what kind of things that poor bird is subjected to on a day to day basis. And what medical reason could you possibly have that you need a service parrot for? Parrots are intelligent, but I have never heard of one being a service animal. That was a load of crap he told people to get into a store with his bird (I did some research out of pure curiosity after that, and I guess if you say it’s a service animal, a store can’t ask any further questions and must allow it in). I have a parrot myself, and he may occasionally in the summer ride down on my shoulder (in a harness for his safety) to the OUTDOOR flea market since he likes people. But good god, I would never dream of bringing him into a store, let alone a store that sells food!