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Sep. 16th, 2016
People Got a Lotta Nerve
Sep. 16th, 2016 03:26 pmBeth and I had been meaning to visit the Prospect Park Zoo for a while, since it's nearby and we have free admission for a year (only a few more months now) with the NYC ID.
We finally got around to it on Monday, which I had off from my temp job for Eid al-Adha even though I'm not Muslim. It's a very small zoo without a lot of animals, and none that are particularly big. They were highlighting their two sea lions, both female, which are generally much smaller than the males. Why have I never heard the term "sea lioness"? I guess gender-specific nouns are kind of on their way out in modern language. We saw a feeding, at which the trainers make the sea lions do tricks and then give them fish.
Some of the tricks were used to assess their health, but I couldn't help thinking how annoying it would be to have to do tricks during lunchtime. Or maybe that's their equivalent of having a job. I know some people think zoos are cruel in general, and I can't say they're totally wrong, although some of the animals are probably having better lives there than they would in the wild. It depends on the specific circumstances; it's a pretty common opinion now that Sea World treats its orcas terribly, but I don't know if it's hurting their business. Really, though, one of the main things I noticed about this zoo was how parents either didn't watch their kids or encouraged them to cause trouble. Some parents were holding up their kids to the glass of an exhibit, and the children were banging on it. I have to suspect that scares the animals even more than they're already terrified by being stared at all day. I have a little more sympathy for the kids who run around, because that's probably what I would have done as a kid. Still, after the big news story about the kid who climbed into the gorilla cage, you'd think parents would be a lot more careful at zoos. Kids acting up while animals mind their own business is some of the most obvious metaphorical behavior I've come across. The strange thing is that being at zoos and other places that people like to bring their kids actually sometimes makes me wish I DID have kids to take there, so that they could do the things I can't. I did manage to squeeze into a turtle shell for a photograph that's now my Facebook profile picture, but I'm too big to, say, crawl around in the prairie dog town.
Don't worry; I'm not having kids. There are just times when it might be fun to borrow some. Or maybe not. After the zoo, we ate at Junior's for the first time, and I still have some apple crumb cheesecake left over.
On Wednesday evening, we went out to a bar to see a friend of ours who's moving back to Texas. It seemed like there was a time when everyone we knew was moving to New York, and now they're all leaving. Okay, not that many people are leaving, although one of our other friends was discussing the possibility. Anyway, we spent some time at a bar, which was all right even though I generally think bars are too noisy. I wonder how much business a quiet bar that encourages patrons to talk to each other would get. Actually, I've been in a few, but I don't remember which ones they were. We pretty much never go to bars except when someone else we know has invited us there, or there's a concert we want to see. When we got home that day, our cat Reagan ran outside onto the stoop. I've had cats who would try this pretty much anytime you opened the door, but ours usually don't. Beth was able to chase her back into the apartment, but I wish there were some way to tell her we don't approve. I remember reading somewhere that cats sometimes respond to rewards but never to punishments, and I had to wonder if a cat wrote it. And really, if any cat were going to try living outside, one who demands constant human attention and food would be about the last one who should try it. I've had outdoor cats before, but I don't think I ever will again. I've also had a cat who was killed by a car. As with the zoo animals, I feel kind of bad for keeping them cooped up inside all the time, but they usually seem to be fairly content.
We finally got around to it on Monday, which I had off from my temp job for Eid al-Adha even though I'm not Muslim. It's a very small zoo without a lot of animals, and none that are particularly big. They were highlighting their two sea lions, both female, which are generally much smaller than the males. Why have I never heard the term "sea lioness"? I guess gender-specific nouns are kind of on their way out in modern language. We saw a feeding, at which the trainers make the sea lions do tricks and then give them fish.
Some of the tricks were used to assess their health, but I couldn't help thinking how annoying it would be to have to do tricks during lunchtime. Or maybe that's their equivalent of having a job. I know some people think zoos are cruel in general, and I can't say they're totally wrong, although some of the animals are probably having better lives there than they would in the wild. It depends on the specific circumstances; it's a pretty common opinion now that Sea World treats its orcas terribly, but I don't know if it's hurting their business. Really, though, one of the main things I noticed about this zoo was how parents either didn't watch their kids or encouraged them to cause trouble. Some parents were holding up their kids to the glass of an exhibit, and the children were banging on it. I have to suspect that scares the animals even more than they're already terrified by being stared at all day. I have a little more sympathy for the kids who run around, because that's probably what I would have done as a kid. Still, after the big news story about the kid who climbed into the gorilla cage, you'd think parents would be a lot more careful at zoos. Kids acting up while animals mind their own business is some of the most obvious metaphorical behavior I've come across. The strange thing is that being at zoos and other places that people like to bring their kids actually sometimes makes me wish I DID have kids to take there, so that they could do the things I can't. I did manage to squeeze into a turtle shell for a photograph that's now my Facebook profile picture, but I'm too big to, say, crawl around in the prairie dog town.
Don't worry; I'm not having kids. There are just times when it might be fun to borrow some. Or maybe not. After the zoo, we ate at Junior's for the first time, and I still have some apple crumb cheesecake left over.
On Wednesday evening, we went out to a bar to see a friend of ours who's moving back to Texas. It seemed like there was a time when everyone we knew was moving to New York, and now they're all leaving. Okay, not that many people are leaving, although one of our other friends was discussing the possibility. Anyway, we spent some time at a bar, which was all right even though I generally think bars are too noisy. I wonder how much business a quiet bar that encourages patrons to talk to each other would get. Actually, I've been in a few, but I don't remember which ones they were. We pretty much never go to bars except when someone else we know has invited us there, or there's a concert we want to see. When we got home that day, our cat Reagan ran outside onto the stoop. I've had cats who would try this pretty much anytime you opened the door, but ours usually don't. Beth was able to chase her back into the apartment, but I wish there were some way to tell her we don't approve. I remember reading somewhere that cats sometimes respond to rewards but never to punishments, and I had to wonder if a cat wrote it. And really, if any cat were going to try living outside, one who demands constant human attention and food would be about the last one who should try it. I've had outdoor cats before, but I don't think I ever will again. I've also had a cat who was killed by a car. As with the zoo animals, I feel kind of bad for keeping them cooped up inside all the time, but they usually seem to be fairly content.
