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It's A Zoo

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Yesterday I took my kids to the Zoo.  I don’t really know what I was thinking.  It would be one thing if I was the type who was not concerned about spreading, or getting and then spreading Coronavirus.  I am still trying to figure out where I am on the spectrum of concern.  Just when I get ready to throw in the towel on social distancing I get an email like the one I got today from Nebraska Medicine reminding me that  “Coronavirus is not canceled:”  Bummer.

 

I read on the internet, as I purchased my timed entry tickets to the Zoo, that masks were strongly encouraged.  As an overly cautious person I was cool with that.  Besides, it’s outdoors, which drastically decreases the likelihood of transmission, especially when you’re walking six feet apart.  When we got to the Zoo I saw about 3 people wearing masks.  Evidently the word strongly was not strong enough.  The crowd control was reasonable with timed entry tickets so I told my kids, maybe we won’t wear them.  My daughter, the rule follower, informed me that the sign was flashing “Masks strongly recommended”.  I said okay, we will wear them, not a big deal.  It became a bigger deal when she put hers on inside out because she forgot how she was supposed to be wearing it.  When I told her it was inside out she took it off and put it in the wagon, then proceeded to try it on again both ways while asking me which way would be best to wear it now.  My six year old kept his on except for when he needed to itch his nose.  Not that his hands were dirty or anything from swinging on every railing we passed.  At least hand sanitizer is back, and at least my kids are old enough to do the entire one way loop of the Zoo now, because there aren’t any shortcuts available.  

 

I make it sound like it was a really bad idea, but at the end of the day we were socially distanced and we did have fun.  It is pretty neat to watch an elephant drinking water with a built in straw, otherwise known as his trunk.  It is nice to do normal things, even in an abnormal fashion.  That said, maybe I’d better figure out where I am on the spectrum before I venture out next time.  That will likely be easier said than done, and like any born and bred American I reserve my right to change my mind.  

 

The fact that Coronavirus has cooped me up in ways, causes me to feel for those Zoo animals.  I know they are treated very well (meals delivered at no charge daily) but I wonder if being caged in ever gets old.  I wonder if they ever think, I’m tired of this social isolation, two lonely bears to a cage.  I wonder if they ever wish they could talk to the people who come visit, or if they think we are too complex to bother talking to.  After all, they likely find it odd that the same people they overhear saying “I wish people would just leave me alone”, also say “I  feel lonely”.  I wonder if they wonder why we do not always treat each other, the way we treat zoo animals, with dignity and respect.

 

I do not yet have plans for a return visit to the Zoo.  Maybe I am waiting for life to seem like less of a Zoo, in which case I could be waiting a long time.  I do know this, I plan to be more flexible next round.  More patient, less judgemental of the person who cuts in line as I attempt to maintain some social distance.  As my mom would say “You do not know what kind of a day they are having.”  We cannot control what a day brings, but we can, by God’s grace, control how we respond to it.  May we take the grace to respond in ways that bring Him glory.        

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