By SACHI FUJIMORI
HERALD NEWS 

Seated in his electric wheelchair, Javier Robles sees life as a series of comedic teaching moments, sometimes awkward, more often tinged with dark humor.

On a recent Saturday, Robles, 41, is browsing in a blue jeans boutique at the Jersey Gardens mall in Elizabeth with his mom, Carmen, and his Labrador retriever service dog, Janus. The dog, named for the Roman god of gates and doorways, is wearing his work uniform, a bright blue vest.

A teenage sales clerk, a nervous type, descends on the trio, saying, “You have to leave. No animals allowed in the store.”  Carmen insults the clerk, using Spanish, a phrase that most closely translated as “You’re an eyeball licker.”

When the manager appears, Robles keeps his cool and explains the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act: Service dogs are permitted access to anyplace the public is allowed. Drama defused. Robles rolls among the racks a bit longer, not because he’s interested in buying a $150 pair of blue jeans, but because he wants to drive home his point.

This spring Robles, who lives in Edison, launched a Web comic called “ThisAbled Nation,” a satirical look at how society treats people with disabilities. The comic appears on his Web site, ThisAbled.com, and the National Minorities with Disabilities Coalition homepage, www.nmdc.us. He’s also a regular blogger at LatinosNJ .com.

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