Last Saturday at the zoo was an exceptionally good day for volunteering. The weather was great, the 10 week old cheetahs made their public debut, and I don't think I encountered a single unpleasant visitor. Early in my shift, I met a boy and his friend and his friend's mom near the entrance of the Invertebrate Exhibit. They immediately took interest in our 15 pound American Lobster and we chatted about him for a bit. The mom and friend moved on to the next exhibit and the boy followed them. He looked at the huge tank of anemones, sea stars and urchins, and then looked over his shoulder to ask me a question. He was probably seven or eight years old, and was truly interested in finding out more about the animals. I love kids like that. It makes my day. The friend and mom were nice, too but not nearly as talkative and just preferred to look. Being that is was early in the day and the exhibit wasn't very busy, I continued to stop at each tank with the little guy and answer his questions and also find out what he already knew about the animals. He was glad the octopus wasn't hiding. He was giddy about the hissing cockroaches. He was way, way excited about the hermit crab. He was fascinated by the leaf cutter ants. The last exhibit in the main building is the Golden Orb Weaver Spiders. He and I began to walk towards it, however, he stopped a few feet short and looked up at me.
"There's no glass?"
"Nope" I replied.
"And the spiders are real?" He was now staring intently at the spiders.
"Yes, they're real."
And I felt a little hand reach over and latch onto mine.
I looked down, smiled at him and assured him that the spiders weren't dangerous. "They can't even see you," I told him.
"Really?" he asked.
"I promise."
And with that he walked up to the edge of the exhibit, towing me by my arm. He asked questions and we talked more about the spiders. He eventually let go of my hand and went back to being the confident kid I met back at the entrance.
The times I wished I was taking time out for myself instead of volunteering...
The times I cursed my alarm clock when I had an early shift...
The times I grumbled about the traffic...
I take it all back.
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2 comments:
Beautiful. You made me sniffle. But now I have to get back to ID-ing a clam...
When kids need an adult, they need an adult. And in just a few minutes you can establish trust. And what's not to trust about Invert Girl?
This isn't a warm and fuzzy tale, but a sad one, which I'd forgotten about until I read your experience.
A friend of mine died of AIDS nearly 9 years ago (wow! doesn't seem that long) Late in the illness, she was in a nursing home. I went to visit once at the same time as her bro-in-law and his then 5 & 7 year old girls, who I'd met only one other time. If you've ever been to a nursing home, they're not always the most pleasant of places and this was not high end. Doors were open, patients moaning, families crying.
The older girl skipped down the hallway w/ Dad while he talked to a doctor. After a few minutes, I felt a hand in mine. I looked down at the little one whose eyes were saucers as she peered into those opened doors. I squeezed her hand to let her know it was ok. We never said a word but she held tight until we got to Theresa's room. Made me feel warm and heartbroken all at the same time.
Their faith in you can remind us why we're here.
What a cool day at the zoo!!!!
the mouse thrower
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