its the story of some animals that find some love, and some people too.
Little Brandon was not more than eight years old. He was a young man. Brandon was watching television when Sarah McLachlan’s plea to help animals was on television. Brandon did not know why but it made him cry in a way he had never cried before. Sarah McLachlan did not fully come out and say it but Brandon for the first time had a feeling as to what happened to animals that did not get adopted. He called his father who was at work after he finished crying.
“Yeah Honey, I’ll be home in a few hours, how are you doing?” said Mr. Stevens.
“No Dad, it’s me. I just had a question.” Said Brandon.
“Okay, what is it?” asked Mr. Stevens.
“I just saw something on television and I started crying and I don’t know why I did it but I called you when I know you are busy at work. I just wanted to know what happens when a puppy or kitten doesn’t find a home?” asked Brandon inquisitively.
“Brandon, that’s a big question. I can’t really talk about it now. I’ll talk to you about it when I get home.” Said Mr. Stevens.
“They get killed don’t they.” exclaimed Brandon.
“Brandon, like I said that’s a big question and I am going to make sure we talk about it when I get home.” Said Mr. Stevens.
“When are you going to come home today?” asked Brandon needing vital information.
“No, I have one more case today but after the case I’ll cancel this thing I have and I’ll come home and talk to you about it. It really is a big question so I wouldn’t even want to talk to you about it over the phone. I have to go now but know for certain that when I get home we’ll have a long talk about what you asked me.” Said Mr. Stevens.
“Alright Dad, but I know why this is such a big deal. I know. I know.” uttered Brandon.
“Just don’t make any assumptions until we have our talk.” Said Mr. Stevens.
“I just wanted to talk to you Dad.” Said Brandon.
“We’ll talk. I just have this really important work that I do that I need to get back to. I love you Brandon.” Said Mr. Stevens wishing he was at home, instead of torn at this moment in his life between work and home.
“I love you too, Dad.” Said Brandon describing how he felt at that moment.
Brandon’s Father Mr. Stevens hung up the phone. Brandon after his father broke the connection just looked at the phone that was in his hand and knew a big talk was coming up, maybe the biggest he ever had with his Dad. He knew what Dad was going to tell him. He knew that his Dad was going to tell him that something terrible happened to the animals that never found a home. Brandon did not know what happened to the animals yet but he knew it wasn’t good. Why would that woman on television be pleading with everyone that watches television to help those animals and why would she be so sad if nothing bad happened to those animals. Why did they need homes so badly if nothing bad happened to them, Brandon thought to himself.
Brandon went online and he went to Bing.com and he typed in “puppies” to the place where you type in words. Apparently you can buy a puppy. Brandon did not know you could buy a puppy. He became more sad at the thought that if some puppies could be bought then maybe some puppies do not get purchased and he just wanted to know what happened to the puppies no one bought.
Brandon then typed the word “kittens” into the place where you type words on Bing.com and he found that you can buy kittens too. Brandon was having thoughts that he never had in his young life before. He was beginning to ask his first big question. His first big question was what happens to puppies and kittens that no one ever bought or paid for and gave a home to. Brandon pulled out his notebook and started writing. He wanted to make certain he had his question for his Dad just right.
“Dad, what happens when puppies that do not get bought. I mean, when they do not find a home. Dad what happens when kittens do not get bought? When kittens do not find a home what happens? What happens to the animals no one wants? The woman on the T.V. was playing the saddest music and the animals looked so sad. It was the saddest TV I have ever seen dad. What happens to the puppies and kittens that no one wants?” wrote Brandon to himself, to his father, and to no one in particular.
Brandon’s small hand was tired from writing so fast. He had the first rush of confusing thoughts that he ever had. He just did not know what to think. He was thinking maybe there was a place for the animals that no one wanted. Maybe there was a place that the animals could go and play. Like a zoo for small animals. He had been to the zoo for big animals. Maybe there was a zoo for small animals. That had to be it. There had to be a zoo for small animals that he had just never been to yet. A zoo for the puppies and kittens that no one wanted. Maybe there was a zoo for puppies and kittens.
Brandon was outside shooting hoops in the driveway of his house when his Dad came home. When Brandon’s dad got out of the car. Brandon threw him the ball. Brandon’s Dad was surprised and dropped his briefcase and caught the ball.
“Nice pass.” Said Mr. Stevens.
“Let me see you shoot the ball.” Said Brandon.
“It’s a tough shot.” Said Mr. Stevens.
“I want to see if you can make it.” Said Brandon.
Brandon’s dad squared up and took the shot. It went right in after it bounced off the backboard and went in.
Brandon ran over to his dad and high fived him.
Brandon’s Dad went over and picked up the ball and passed it back to Brandon.
“Brandon, let’s see if you can make a shot from right where you are.” prompted Mr. Stevens.
Brandon squared up and put his arms to work and followed through the right way and made the shot.
Brandon’s Dad stood underneath the rim and picked up the ball again.
“Lets shoot hoops while we talk. You called me at work today didn’t you?” consoled Mr. Stevens.
“Yeah I did. I shouldn’t have. I just saw something on TV.” Said Brandon.
“No. You asked me a hard question. “ fathered Mr. Stevens.
“Was it a bad question?” inquired Brandon.
“No. It wasn’t a bad question. You saw something on TV that made you feel sad. It made you think.” Said Mr. Stevens.
“I looked online and you can buy puppies and kittens?” said Brandon.
“Yes you can.” affirmed Mr. Stevens.
“How much do puppies and kittens cost?” said Brandon.
“Not much.” Said Mr. Stevens.
“So everyone can have a puppy or kitten if they want.” responded Brandon.
“That is true but not everyone wants a puppy or a kitten. They can be difficult to take care of.” In response stated Mr. Stevens.
“Is that why we do not have a pet?” said Brandon.
“Well, we just never talked about getting a pet. “ responded Mr. Stevens.
“I’ve always wanted one.” Said Brandon.
“I know.” Said Mr. Stevens.
“Do you think I am old enough to take care of a puppy?” said Brandon.
“Yes.” Said Mr. Stevens.
“Dad, what happens if no one adopts a puppy or kitten?” said Brandon asking the hard question he wanted an answer to.
“I think you are asking me what happens if a puppy or kitten never finds a home?” said Mr. Stevens.
“I think that is what I asked. I just want to know why the woman on television was so sad, what didn’t the woman on television say?” Said Brandon.
“She was sad because she knows what happens to the pets that never find a home.” Said Mr. Stevens.
“What happens?” said Brandon.
“Well most of the animals find homes.” Said Mr. Stevens.
“What happens to the ones that don’t?” said Brandon.
“Well, something sad happens.” Said Mr. Stevens.
“What?” said Brandon.
“Well the animals that never find a home get put to sleep.” Said Mr. Stevens.
“Sleep.” Said Brandon.
“Yes. Sleep.” Said Mr. Stevens.
Brandon had taken a few shots by now and his Dad was extremely impressed with how many times he had made the shots. Brandon was good at putting the ball through the hoop from really anywhere.
“Dad, when they put an animal to sleep, does it hurt?” said Brandon.
“No.” said Mr. Stevens.
“Why was the woman on television so sad?” asked Brandon really wanting to know.
“Because putting animals to sleep is a very sad thing.” Said Mr. Stevens.
“Then maybe more people should try and help the animals find homes.” In response, said Brandon.
“Absolutely. That is what the woman on television wanted you to know. She wanted you to know that you can help keep animals from being put to sleep if you give them a home.” Said Mr. Stevens.
“Can we help animals?” said Brandon.
“We could talk about adopting one, I have to talk to your mother first though.” Said Mr. Stevens.
“I would take good care of it.” Said Brandon.
“I know you would.” Said Brandon.
Brandon’s mother woke him up the next morning so that he could do his school studies.
“Brandon, make yourself some toast and have an orange.” Said Mrs. Stevens.
“It’s early mom.” Said Brandon.
“I know its early, its always early this time of the morning. It was this early when I woke you up yesterday and it’s going to be this early tomorrow.” Said Mrs. Stevens.
“Give me a minute. Ill see you in the kitchen in a few minutes.”said Brandon.
“Just don’t make it too many minutes.” Said Mrs. Stevens.
Brandon laid in bed for not too many minutes and got his mind together before he got out of bed and perked up a little bit as kids can do.
“I earned 13,000 points last week at school, mom.” Said Brandon as he was walking into the kitchen.
“I earned a Master’s Degree.” Said Mrs. Stevens.
“Mooooom, you know I’m not as smart as you.” Said Brandon.
“It’s okay honey, one day you might be but you need at least four million points to say you are as smart as me.” Said Mrs. Stevens.
“Mom, do you think I’ll ever be ready for Udacity.” Said Brandon.
“ABSOLUTELY!” said Mrs. Stevens.
“I’m going to need a car one day so that I can turn it into a robot.” Said Brandon.
“Well, you need a lot more points before that happens, and a lot more days.” Said Mrs. Stevens.
“Did Dad talk to you about yesterday?” said Brandon.
“Yes he did and I don’t know.” Said Mrs. Stevens.
“Mom, we can save an animal from being put to sleep. We should listen to that woman on television. She knows a lot about animals.” Said Brandon.
“I know. I understand this but it takes a lot of work.” Said Mrs. Stevens.
“I’m here all day when I am not at the gym or at Mike’s house. All we would have to do is open the back door and let it run outside in the yard and then let it back in. I would be in charge of that. I’d be the door opener for the puppy and you and dad could get the food and I would be the person in the family that feeds the puppy. “ said Brandon.
“I’ll give it some thought. I sort of noticed that we made it through eight years without a pet. I was sort of hoping to make it through another ten.” Said Mrs. Stevens.
“Mom. Think about this. We can stop an animal from sleeping. We can entertain it.” Said Brandon.
“Did your father explain to you what being put to sleep means?” said Mrs. Stevens.
“Sort of, it’s like when a bear hibernates or something.” Said Brandon.
“I don’t know if I should tell you or not.” Said Mrs. Stevens.
“Tell me what?” said Brandon.
“Let me make certain you know all of the facts Brandon. When you put an animal to sleep. It doesn’t wake up.” Said Mrs. Stevens.
“You mean ever?” said Brandon.
“Basically.” Said Mrs. Stevens.
“WHAT!?” said Brandon.
“Calm down.” Said Mrs. Stevens.
“HOW MANY ANIMALS ARE SLEEPING!?” said Brandon.
“I don’t know. A lot?” said Mrs. Stevens.
“A LOT OF ANIMALS ARE SLEEPINGE FOREVER!?” exclaimed Brandon.
“Well, Brandon, you should know that sometimes the pet population isn’t in line with the people population.” Said Mrs. Stevens.
“I don’t get it.” Said Brandon.
“When there are more we’ll say puppies and kittens that need homes than there are people to give them homes, when there are more animals than there are homes for animals, the animals that no one wants to take care of. Get put to sleep.” Said Mrs. Stevens.
“No.” said Brandon.
“No. What?” responded Mrs. Stevens.
“That’s not right, that couldn’t be true.” Said Mrs. Stevens.
“It’s why the woman on television was so sad because she knows the truth.” Said Mrs. Stevens.
“I am going to create a web site that lets all of my friends know this.” Said Brandon.
“Now Brandon, what do you think that website is going to do?” said Mrs. Stevens.
“It’s going to let my friends know to adopt something. Something that’s going to be put to sleep.” Said Brandon.
“Brandon. There are a lot of facts in life and one of the facts in life that I just shared with you is sad. A lot of the facts in life are very sad. There are a lot of sad facts in life but maybe I can talk with your dad about getting you a pet because maybe it’s time you had something to take care of.” Said Mrs. Stevens.
“How many can we adopt?” asked Brandon.
“We can talk about adopting one.” Said Mrs. Stevens.
“If we adopt one, how many will be put to sleep that we don’t adopt?” asked Brandon.
“I don’t know.” Said Mrs. Stevens.
Brandon sat silent. He had made his toast and was eating his cereal. He was thinking about what he was going to do with his website now that he knew a new fact about life.
Brandon had finished his Khan Academy courses early that day. His mother was at work.
Brandon called his friend Mike at around noon.
“Mike.” Said Brandon.
“Brandon?” Said Mike.
“Yeah it’s me.” Said Brandon.
“Mike my mother told me something this morning.” Said Brandon.
“What?” said Mike.
“My mother told me that when an animal is put to sleep it doesn’t wake up.” Said Brandon.
“That’s not true.” Said Mike.
“My mother said it was a fact.” Said Brandon.
“Do you think my parents are going to put my dog to sleep?” said Mike.
“No because it has a home. She said only the animals that didn’t have homes were put to sleep.” Said Brandon.
“Well, then maybe we could build a website that helps animals find homes.” Said Mike.
“How is that going to help? We can’t build a website that has money on it.” Said Brandon.
“What if we set up a stand outside the playground where we sold lemonade to raise money.” Said Mike creatively thinking.
“Raised money for what?” said Brandon.
“We could raise money to pay for puppies and kittens to be adopted so that it made it easier for them to find homes.” Said Mike.
“Mike, our friends might want to help.” Said Brandon.
“Maybe.” Said Mike.
“Did you finish your Khan Academy classes?” said Brandon.
“Yeah I did.” Said Mike.
“How many points do you have?” said Brandon.
“I made 4500 points today.” Said Mike.
“I made about 3000 points today.” Said Brandon.
“You made more points than I did the other day.” Said Mike.
“I tried really hard.” Said Brandon.
“Brandon, we sold lemonade before.” Said Mike.
“What if we just did it again but this time gave the money to our friends to help them give animals homes, maybe our friends that don’t have pets could help us find animals homes.” Said Brandon.
“The playground is always busy.” Said Mike.
“How many puppies and kittens do you think need homes?” said Brandon.
“Dozens.” Said Mike.
“So we need enough money for them to find homes.” Said Brandon.
“I guess.” Said Mike.
Brandon picks up his journal and starts writing. He has a mottled journal that his grandmother gave him for his birthday. The journal is the place where he keeps all of his notes for his Khan Academy homework and it’s also the place where he writes things. Brandon likes to write. He writes stories and poems and he writes ideas for websites that he thinks would be fun to make when he is better at making websites. He also draws pictures in his journal and when he fills a journal up his mother gets him a new journal. He needs about one journal for every class that he takes on Khan Academy and he fills them up quickly with his hand.
“I sold lemonade before. It wasn’t hard. If I can help something find a home that is what I want to do. How hard could it be to find a puppy a home? Why would anyone put an animal to sleep? Why wouldn’t the people that are putting the animal to sleep bring it home to give it a home? Who would do such a thing?” wrote Brandon.
When Brandon had finished writing, he went outside and got his basketball. He started making shots at the basket and he missed some shots and he made some other shots.
His neighbor Dorothy came over and she asked him to pass her the ball.
“Brandon, throw it here.” Said Dorothy.
“Catch!” Said Brandon.
Dorothy stood further back in the driveway than Brandon had and took a long shot. She made the shot.
Brandon was surprised.
“That was a hard shot.” Said Brandon.
“Mike sent me a message.” Said Dorothy.
“Yeah.” Said Brandon.
“He said the two of you were going to start another Lemonade stand but that this time you were going to use it to help pets find homes.” Said Dorothy.
“We just talked about it. Do you think we should do it?” said Brandon.
“Yes!” said Dorothy.
“Well would you want to help?” friended Brandon.
“I’m really good at drawing. I could make the sign.” Said Dorothy.
“Do you have lemons.” Said Brandon.
“I could get them. You have a cooler. I know Mike has a table.” Said Dorothy.
“That’s all we need isn’t it.” Said Brandon.
“We need something to put the money in too.” Said Dorothy.
“We could put it in a pencil box, I have one of those.” Said Brandon.
“We’ll bring that too.” Said Dorothy.
“My parents told me that they put animals to sleep that don’t find homes.” Said Brandon.
“I’ve known about that.” Said Dorothy.
“They never wake up.” Said Brandon.
“We have to do this. If we can help even one animal find a home, we can say we did something.” Said Dorothy.
“You know, the playground always has a lot of kids and parents.” Stated Brandon firmly.
“That’s where we’ll do it. The same place you and Mike sold Lemonade before. I’ll help this time.” Said Dorothy.
Brandon, Mike, and Dorothy on a steaming hot summer day when school is out tell their parents that they are going to sell lemonade again. The three of them meet up Bising’s Playground with the table, the heavy large jug of homemade lemonade and of course the pencil box for the money they were hoping to make. There is a basketball court at Bising that the other kids are competing in basketball on. There is also a jungle gym that some other kids are having fun on.
Brandon, Mike, and Dorothy the three of them know one thing. Their friends are going to be thirsty. So they set up their stand and start selling Lemonade for fifty cents a cup. Their friends start coming over slowly at first not noticing they had set up a stand but after word gets out that there’s cheap lemonade, since it’s so hot everyone comes over and waits in line to get some of the lemonade.
One of the kids that is waiting in line reads the sign. The signs says that the money is going to stop animals from being put to sleep that can’t find homes.
“I don’t want the animals to be put to sleep either. There was a woman on television that made me so sad. I started crying.” Said the girl.
“I saw it too.” Said another.
“Me too.” Said another.
“Here take all of my money, just let me get some lemonade when I am thirsty.” Said a fourth.
The kids started talking.
A parent came over.
“What are you kids doing?” said the parent.
Dorothy very astutely explained, “We are raising money to save animals from being put to sleep that can’t find homes.”
“That’s very noble of you.” Said the parent.
“What does noble mean?” asked Mike.
“It’s means really good.” Said the parent.
“Do you think that maybe you could tell some of your adult friends about what we are doing?” said Brandon.
“I’ll send out a tweet right now.” Said the parent.
The parent sent the following tweet to her actually quite long list of followers that she had steadily became a reality over the time this parent had her Twitter account.
“Kids having a fundraiser at Bising Park to help find homes for pets. Make sure to come.” Was the tweet.
She went over and told the other parents and then they retweeted the tweet. This tweet made it’s way all through North College Hill, quite quickly.
A couple dozen parents and their children came out on this hot day in the summer to meet these kids that were raising funds for the animals that were in need of homes. How often are kids under the age of ten raising funds for something?
One of them was a reporter for the local Community Press, that was always interested in stories developing locally. She got the tweet and thought it was at least worth looking into as a special interest story.
“Would you three like to be interviewed for a story.” Said the Reporter that thought some young people , younger than ten were raising money on their own for a cause, was interesting.
“YES! YES WE WOULD!” said Brandon, Mike, and Dorothy.
“Alright, let me get out my note pad.” Said the Reporter from the Community Press.
“What are you doing for the record?” said the Reporter with very much officialness.
“We are selling lemonade to raise money to help people give animals homes so they don’t get put to sleep.” said Brandon.
“Puppies and Kittens should be able to find the homes they need to keep from being put to sleep.” said Mike.
“My family has a pet, we aren’t putting our pet to sleep, so we want the rest of the animals to be saved from being put to sleep too.” Said Dorothy.
“You know you can make a donation to the SPCA and they can lower the cost of adopting an animal or even several animals.” Said the reporter.
“That’s what we want to do.” Said the three children raising money.
“Mind if I take a photograph.” Said the Reporter.
“Would you?” Said the kids.
“Alright stand right here to the side of your lemonade stand and I’ll make sure all three of you are in the newspaper for being as noble as you are.” Said the reporter.
Brandon asked the reporter this.
“Why doesn’t the zoo take care of all of the animals?” asked Brandon.
“Well, the zoo is a place for exotic animals right now, it’s not a place for pets. That’s what the shelter is for. The shelter is like a zoo for pets that lets you take the pets home if you want to adopt the pet.” Said the Reporter.
“I know but they don’t put the animals to sleep at the zoo do they?” said Brandon.
“No, no they don’t.” said the Reporter.
Mike then said, “Then the zoo should take care of all of the animals that don’t have homes.”
“Well, maybe I’ll add that in my story. That one of you said that the zoo could help out in finding homes for animals. It’s a modern idea.” Said the reporter.
“Why is it a modern idea?” said Mike.
“Because it’s never been done.” Said the Reporter.
“The zoo has never had an exhibit for pets?” asked Dorothy.
“Nope.” Said the Reporter.
“Brandon.” Said Mr. Stevens.
“Yeah Dad.” Said Brandon.
“I got a retweet that you and Dorothy and Mike were at the playground today raising money to help find homes for pets.” Said Mr. Stevens.
“Yeah a reporter came out and talked to us.” Said Brandon.
“That happened really quickly.” Said Mr. Stevens.
“I know one of the parents sent out a tweet and it was retweeted to their friends and a bunch of people showed up to buy lemonade from us. We sold all of our lemonade and some people gave us money that didn’t even want Lemonade.” Said Brandon.
“How much money did you raise?” asked the very interested Mr. Stevens.
“I’ll show you.” Said Brandon.
Brandon went to his room to pick up the fundraising box. Dorothy and Mike thought that Brandon should take the money home with him since it was his idea.
“Here is all the money we collected.” Proudly stated Brandon producing a box of more donation than he was aware of.
Brandon’s mother counted through the money and she saw some checks, and she saw a lot of cash. She counted it all up. She even needed to get a calculator to count the money.
“Did you count this?” asked Mrs. Stevens.
“Not yet.” Said Brandon.
“There is nearly five hundred dollars here in checks and cash.” Said Mrs. Stevens.
“Do you think that’s enough to help a pet find a home.” Said Brandon.
“Absolutely. You yourself will be able to have any pet you want with this money.” Said Mrs. Stevens.
“I mean, will it help a pet that won’t be coming home with us to find a home.” Said Brandon.
“Well, I don’t know about that.” Said Mr. Stevens.
“We wanted to raise enough money so that all of the pets could find homes.” Said Brandon.
“There’s not enough money in the world for that to happen.” Said Mrs. Stevens.
“What do you mean?” said Brandon.
“Well, it is not always about money.” Said Mrs. Stevens.
“Doesn’t everyone want a pet?” said Brandon.
“No, Brandon, everyone does not want a pet.” Said Mrs. Stevens.
“People would rather let animals get put to sleep then give them homes? Is that true?” said Brandon stumbling down a path of questions that his parents wanted to be as painless for him as possible to come to terms with.
“Unfortunately, yes.” Said Mr. Stevens.
“That’s not fair at all, what did those animals do to anyone?” said Brandon.
“They didn’t do anything Brandon. Sometimes things are just the way they are.” Said Mrs. Stevens.
“But they take care of the animals at the zoo. They don’t put the animals to sleep at the zoo.” stated the young Brandon.
“That is true.” Said Mrs. Stevens.
“Then why do they put pets to sleep if they don’t put zoo animals to sleep?” asked Brandon.
“Well, I don’t know, do you know honey?” stated Mr. Stevens.
“No, I don’t know.” Said Mrs. Stevens.
Time passes. Much time passes. Years pass. He never forgets that time where he first learned what it meant to be noble was. To be noble was to do something good. Brandon grew up. He graduated from the Khan Academy and North College Hill High School. He went to the University of Cincinnati and studied Biology and learned everything he could about life and what it was comprised of.
While at the University he interned at the Cincinnati Zoo. He became such a good zoo keeper at the Cincinnati Zoo that after he graduated from the University of Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Zoo Brandon gets offered a position.
After taking care of the penguins, and taking care of the lions, and taking care of the otters and the flamingos. Brandon thought back to that day he Dorothy and Mike, two people he kept in touch with through the years, raised some money for the animals at the SPCA.
Brandon called Mike the same way he had over a decade earlier.
“Mike.” Said Brandon.
“Brandon?” said Mike.
“Yeah, this is Brandon. Its been a couple weeks I know. I’ve been busy.” Said Brandon.
“What’s up?” said Mike.
“I was thinking today about that time we raised some money for the SPCA when we were kids.” Said Brandon.
“Yeah, that was a good day. I think of it from time to time.” Said Mike.
“Well, something that has come up recently that might interest you has come up at the zoo. Maybe, just maybe you could help me with something. “ asked Brandon to his old friend Mike.
“What’s up?” responded Mike.
“There was this one moment that stuck in my mind, I don’t know if it stuck in yours but it stuck in mine.” Said Brandon.
“What’s that?” said Mike.
“Why can’t the zoo have an exhibit for pets?” Said Brandon.
“Well, the zoo usually only has exhibits for exotic animals as well you should know since you work there.” Said Mike knowing the type of person Brandon was.
“I know, but it just recently came up at work that they are looking for pitches from the zookeepers and patrons of the zoo and really everyone that works at the zoo.” Said Brandon.
“What’s this about?” asked Mike wondering where this was going.
“Well, I have been informed that the Cincinnati Zoo has been gifted some land from an anonymous donor out in Mason. They have two options, they can sell it or they can expand. Selling the donated land would make the zoo a lot of money up front but the zoo honestly might be interested in developing the land into a satellite zoo of some kind where they can expand their operations. It’s being considered an open symposium that is coming up where anyone working at the zoo can discuss openly their ideas for the land since everyone working at the zoo would be affected by the expansion.” Said Brandon.
“Alright, what’s the pitch?” said Mike.
“What if for once they housed a petting zoo for animals that can’t be given homes from the SPCA?” said Brandon.
“You mean realize that vague dream we had as children?” said Mike.
“Basically.” Sad Brandon.
“Have you contacted Dorothy about this?” said Mike.
“I haven’t talked to her in a while.” Said Mike.
“I just talked to her a few weeks ago and she’s still planning events.” Said Mike.
“Do you think she would be interested in this idea.” asked Brandon.
“I think she would. The question is, would the zoo be interested.” Said Mike.
“I’ve talked with zoo keepers before, and they have said that it’s a novel idea but that it comes down to space. The downtown location just does not have space for this type of exhibit … BUT … with the donated land it might be possible.” Explained Brandon.
“Well, its about decisions and sales and the pitch. You know I’m great at pitches.” Said Mike.
“I know. How are things at the dealership?” asked Brandon.
“I’m still at a point where I am picking up the paces on selling cars but if you are on my lot. I speak your language.” Said Mike.
“I mean you’ve always been better at talking to people than myself. You’ve always had a lot more confidence too when it comes to talking to people that you just met.” Said Brandon.
“I know it’s something that I’ve always been comfortable doing. It’s why I went into sales.” Said Mike.
“The idea of some kind of an exhibit for domestic animals isn’t so far fetched when it’s quite common to find a petting zoo for farm animals. ” Said Brandon.
“I mean it’s kind of a hard idea to get, since the zoo, and you again are more aware of this than myself, is typically for exotic animals.” Said Mike.
“Well, as I am imagining I can envision a petting zoo for all of the types of animals that you typically find at the SPCA and to give it that exoticness, it would be the numbers of animals that would be the exotic element of the exhibit. How often do you get to see thirty dogs in one place from a safe distance? As an act of community outreach we could have an exhibit at this new location that has yet to be developed where quite frankly animals that have not been adopted and that normally would be put down could be placed in the care of the Cincinnati Zoo and we could be a home for these animals that people just for whatever reason can’t find a home for and because of the numbers it would be as exotic and interesting as any exhibit at the zoo?” Said Brandon.
“What I like about it is that it would be entertaining and that it could be a successful petting zoo if you haven’t thought of that. I also like the idea that it would be great Public Relations for the Cincinnati Zoo because it would be solving a problem, the same problem that we in our own way were trying to address as kids.” Said Mike.
“Maybe you could help me with my pitch? The symposium at the zoo is in a couple of weeks and I’d just like to go over it with someone at least once before then.” said Brandon.
“What would you want my help with?” said Mike.
“Just keep me from working on it alone. Help me with the persuasive element of it.” Said Brandon.
“I guess I could help with that. I don’t know how much use I would be though.” Said Mike.
“I just need an audience.” Said Brandon.
“For the novelty of it, we should contact Dorothy.” Said Mike.
“I haven’t talked to her about it. Didn’t send her an email or anything.” Said Brandon.
“You should do that. This could be something that completes a day that we experienced years ago.” Said Mike.
“That would be special wouldn’t it.” Said Brandon.
“I think it would. It would be that noble thing that we heard talked about back then.” Said Mike.
“So how about this, it’s Monday right now. Are you free this Friday night, Saturday night, or Sunday night?” said Brandon.
“I’m free Friday and Sunday night. Saturday night I have plans with someone.” Said Mike.
“Alright, how about this. Ill see if Dorothy is free Friday or Sunday Night as well. Its been a few months since I called her, but a week is plenty of time to make time to meet with some school friends isn’t it?” said Brandon.
“I think so, plus it’s not like we don’t keep in contact through the social, we just haven’t been in the same room together for at least a year at this point.” Stated Mike.
“You can make it this weekend?” said Brandon.
“Yes.” Said Mike.
“Alright. Well then I’ll keep talk to you before then just to confirm and hopefully Dorothy will be there too. If the three of us got together, maybe had some drinks, that would be good times.” Said Brandon.
“Yeah, yeah it would be. Hopefully Dorothy can make it. It would be good to see her again, if not, we can work on this pitch.” Said Mike.
“I’ll see you this weekend.” Said Brandon.
“Yeah, sounds good.” Said Mike.
The two of them go through the process of hanging up the phone.
Brandon goes through his contact list and calls Dorothy.
“Hi, Dorothy?” says Brandon.
“Yeah. What’s going on Brandon?” Said Dorothy.
“There is something going on at the zoo.” Said Brandon.
“What’s that?” said Dorothy.
“It hasn’t hit the press yet, but the zoo has been anonymously donated a piece of land that it has to make a decision on. It has to either sell it for funds or put it to use as an extension of the downtown zoo.” Said Brandon.
“Really?” said Dorothy.
“Yeah. Apparently they are asking for ideas from all of the employees at the zoo. I am one of their youngest zoo keepers and they know my intentions of making a career out of it. It’s sort of something that that is preliminary but they just want to know the thoughts of their employees on the matter. I talked with Mike just a few moments ago and I asked him for some advice and to maybe get together this weekend and I wanted to call you for the same reason.“ said Brandon.
“How is he? And what did he think of what you said?” said Dorothy.
“He is good. Said he would be interested in coming over this weekend.” Said Brandon.
“Alright, I might be free this weekend.“ said Dorothy.
“Remember back when we were kids and we had that lemonade stand that we used to raise money for the animals. Remember how we made the news and how maybe one or two animals found homes that otherwise wouldn’t have? “ said Brandon.
“Yeah, we made the paper for that. That was the first time I was in the newspaper actually. Taught me some things.” Said Dorothy.
“Well, the zoo is collecting ideas for what can be done with the land. The board of the zoo is collecting ideas from all of the zoo employees about what to do with the land that they were not expecting to receive. They received it about three months ago but they just let us know last week. There was some paperwork that needed to be finalized before they reached out to the employees to ask what people thought could be done with it.” Said Brandon.
“What are your immediate thoughts?” said Dorothy.
“That they use a portion of it to give homes to unwanted pets. It could be an exhibit with a couple dozen number of animals in it where the pets can have a permanent home and have some kind of life.” Said Brandon.
“You think they would go for that? Doesn’t the zoo typically only deal in exotic animals?” said Dorothy.
“That would be the whole point, it would be an exhibit that lets people know that we are surrounded by nature. It would be a place where kids and adults can come and observe how dogs and cats spend time with dogs and cats in exotic numbers.” Said Brandon.
“Yeah, I’ll get together with you and Mike this weekend. I’m not saying it’s a bad idea, I just think you need a great presentation to make it happen. Have you ever talked about when we raised money for animals when we were young?” said Dorothy.
“I’ve told a couple of the other zoo keepers, the ones that I see the most often. They loved the story and think that working in the zoo might be a life long calling for me.” Said Brandon.
“You could let the zoo know that you have a professional tie with an event planner that could come up with some creative ideas for promoting the successful exhibit. I would do some planning work pro bono for you since it would just be planning and I wouldn’t be doing the actual work. I could draw up some inspiration for you to add to your presentation. I have a large online footprint that depending on the event I can draw upon to make some real magic happen with.” Said Dorothy.
“Thank you so much. This weekend Mike is free Friday night and Sunday night. I was wondering if you were free Friday or Sunday night for a brain storming session to help me develop my pitch. “ said Brandon.
“I’m free on Sunday Night.” Said Dorothy.
“Then we can meet Sunday around 9ish” said Brandon.
“That’s fine.” Said Dorothy.
“Alright, I’ll let Mike Know.” Said Brandon.
Brandon is in his apartment and he is drinking some hard lemonade that he is drinking because he thinks Dorothy and Mike will think its quaint. He knows no one really drinks hard lemonade. He just thought it would be cool to have some hard lemonade to drink that would be symbolic of the of lemonade they sold to raise awareness as children. It was a corny gesture but it was one that he didn’t feel too corny to make. Plus he thought hard lemonade actually tasted pretty good if you haven’t had it in a long time. It was a decent choice to make for drinks that night as he wanted to provide something for them sharing their time and intellectual resources with him to get this presentation right.
Brandon spent the week in his usual exhibit. He looked over the penguins. Since he was a child he loved penguins. Once he first saw a flock of penguins scampering around on the ice he fell in love. It was his love of penguins and his many visits to the zoo during his high school years that inspired him to become a zoo keeper in the first place. He thought it was fulfilling work. He loved animals. So looking after them for a living was a joy for him. It was something that fit him.
There was a knock at the door and it was Dorothy. She was about twenty minutes earlier than she said she would be which was refreshing for Brandon. When you set up a meeting it’s the waiting for people to show up that takes the longest amount of time.
“Brandon, its good to see you.” Said Dorothy.
They gave each other a big hug.
“You too, Dorothy. How is everything, how is the event planning?” said Brandon.
“Event planning is event planning. I just did a suare for Genuine Products and it was a big corporate affair. They wanted crystal on every table that fit within a the budget that wasn’t small but when they wanted their theme to be crystal I don’t think even with the size of the budget they allotted me that I would have to do some serious research into getting the right adornments. I did something special for them though. I did some research online and used my company’s reputation to make some magic happen. I got in touch with a certain cola company and explained to them the theme of the event and that it would be a beautiful surprise if I could could obtain roughly 200 bottles of their crystal branded cola.
They said that they did in fact have some in stock and that they could forward it to me but that since it was not available to the public per se that they would have to charge a premium to me to make this happen.
I took a hard look at my budget and sacrificed two or three minor elements so that I could include this lovely take home that people would probably find novel. Crystal Cola. It was a throwback as everyone attending would remember the short lived product but to have it at the Crystal Event would be really special it would take a crystal event and make CRYSTAL if that makes sense. It’s just a way that I thought I could go out of my way within the budget to make the event for Genuine Products special for them, it was an anniversary event and I wanted to out do myself. So I reached out and pulled a string I invented. In the future I might try and do that more often. Invent strings that can be pulled, instead of sticking to all of the strings I am used to pulling to get my work done.” Elucidated Dorothy.
“That is extremely impressive, are their any cola’s left?” said Brandon.
“Not really.” said Dorothy.
“Then those cola’s must have been truly appreciated. If you had some left maybe people would not have been as impressed as you would have thought. “ said Brandon.
“The crystal cola for the crystal event really impressed people and everyone I talked to wanted to know how I got this rather obscure product. Not all but a lot of people did not even open the cola, they brought it home with themselves as a collectors item. Something about nostalgia that makes everyone feel something inside.” Said Dorothy.
“Yeah, nostalgia isn’t even something you can feel until you get to a certain age. Like cartoons, I think the first time I ever even knew what it felt like to feel nostalgic was when a friend of mine in college sent me a link to the actual Duck Tales thematic opening. I was floored. I was flooded with what I could only describe as nostalgia. I had heard the word before but I never knew what it was until there I was watching Scrooge jump into his vat of coins that to this day I am certain is not actually possible but in a cartoon, eh.” Said Brandon.
“I’ll be honest with you, I am also quite certain you cannot dive into coins but cartoons are where the all is possible.” Said Dorothy.
“Well, let’s sit down.” Said Brandon.
“Yeah, your place is always nice every time I see it.” Said Dorothy.
“I keep busy.” Said Brandon.
“When is Mike coming?” asked Dorothy.
“He said he was coming around 9ish.” Said Brandon.
“Well that’s not long from now. It will be good for the three of us to get together again. We don’t do this enough.” Said Dorothy.
“Life, eh?” said Brandon.
“Life.” Said Dorothy.
“Would you like a drink?” said Brandon.
“Hard Lemonade? What because we’re adults now?” said Dorothy.
“You get it. Hopefully Mike will too.” Said Brandon.
“You could be an event planner if you wanted to be. It’s little things like this that makes for a successful event.” Said Dorothy.
“I didn’t know that.” Said Brandon.
“Well, now you do.” Said Dorothy.
“Well thank you.” Said Brandon.
“If you think about it, an exhibit is like a never ending event. Its meant to give a special experience to everyone that encounters it.” Said Dorothy.
“Yeah, that’s true.” Said Brandon.
“From what I know about zoo exhibits, they are meant to give an experience to everyone that encounters them.” Said Dorothy.
“Yeah. That is what an exhibit is. It’s a manicured long standing showcase that provides insight into the showpieces which at the zoo are of course the animals.” Said Brandon.
“You want to make the pitch that this new land that has been donated gets used for the purpose of housing for lack of a better way of putting it, pets?” said Dorothy.
“Basically. I mean to be coarse, if it was like the TJ Maxx of the the local animal world. Where TJ Maxx takes into it’s inventory clothing that didn’t make it off the rack at the retail location this would be similar to that, where animals didn’t make it out of the retail locations of the SPCA , we would provide a service that allows for those animals to live out their full lives and maybe even experience something more special than they would experience at individual homes. The zoo could be approached from time to time for adoption of the animals and as I am envisioning it now this exhibit that I am wanting to pitch would be a place for the public to see the exotic in the seemingly ordinary. Maybe to present the idea that animals are each exotic in their own right. “ said Brandon.
“I like it. It’s sort of halfway between an original idea and applying something that’s always been done to some animals that no one has looked at a certain way before.” Said Dorothy.
“I think Mike is at the door.” Said Brandon.
“Yeah, that is probably him.” Said Dorothy.
Brandon gets up and goes and answers the door and Mike is standing there with a bottle of top shelf whiskey.
“I thought I would bring something to drink. Dorothy its great to see you again.” Said Mike.
“Its great to see you too.” Said Dorothy.
Mike and Dorothy hug and Brandon and Mike shake hands the same.
“Hard Lemonade? Since we are adults right?” said Mike.
“That is exactly what Dorothy said.” Said Brandon.
“Yeah well, I brought some whiskey since we are adults but I’ll have some hard lemonade.” Said Mike.
“What’s been happening?” said Dorothy.
“Life man. Life’s been happening. The cars are moving with the right sales touch, and if you treat people the right way you can get some extras thrown in there that people were not expecting to think of needing. With cars being as option rich as they are now, a lot of times people don’t even know what the options on a car are. I kind of over time have developed this list of options that assuredly most people have never heard of that time and time again people unexpectedly discover that yes actually I would like those options and no I did not know the car came with those options. Its halfway between informative selling and pressure selling. Im light on the pressure though but when someone is encountering new information for the first time, invariably they are at least interested and I let them know that those are the options that make all of my customers happy. “ said Mike.
“Yeah, you are a car salesman.” Said Brandon.
“Damn right I am. No finer business to be in.” said Mike.
“When was the last time you had Crystal Cola?” said Brandon.
“Ages ago. Why do you ask?” said Mike.
“Because I told him it was the centerpiece of my last event truth be told.” Said Dorothy.
“How the hell’d you get Crystal Cola?” said Mike.
“I did my job , that’s how.” Said Dorothy.
“Did you try it?” said Mike.
“I didn’t think to ask that, did you get a taste yourself Dorothy?” said Brandon.
“I did.” Said Dorothy smirking.
“Well, how was it?” said Mike.
“It was amazing. I wasn’t expected to be amazed but I was. I am certain though I was only amazed because of the fact that its been fifteen years since I had it. “ said Dorothy.
“Theres none left is there.” Said Mike.
“Theres not.” Said Dorothy.
“You would be surprised, throw a 24 Pack of Crystal Cola into a car deal and it could mean the difference between someone walking out and sticking around to put pen to paper. I kid you not. I love stuff like that. “ said Mike.
“It’s unfortunate.” Said Dorothy. “What is?” said Brandon.
“That they let me know, it could only be a one time deal. What’s unfortunate is that you can’t even get the Crystal Cola. The only reason and they let me know the very only reason they were letting the deal happen was because Genuine Products had a certain reputation with them and that and they had to confirm this that it was their actual Crystal Anniversary. They let me know they received a lot of bad press for their Crystal Cola and they weren’t happy about that but that yes, they kept inventories of evey flavor they had ever created in one of their warehouses.” Said Dorothy.
“It was worth the effort then to procure it?” said Mike.
“Yeah I don’t know why they got the headache they had in the press years ago. I don’t remember that. I loved it then. I love it now and everyone at the event thought it was some kind of miracle to see it again. The effect by one of my fellow event planners was called the ‘wave of nostalgia’ it was the only way to describe the way people felt about it. Genuine Products was genuinely impressed. “said Dorothy.
“Brandon, you have a pitch coming up?” said Mike.
“Yes.” Said Brandon.
“What do you have so far. Give me the short and sweet of it as short and sweet as you can get since that’s important.” Said Mike.
“Puppies and Kittens finding a home with the zoo.” Said Brandon.
“Never been done before as far as I can tell. Have you ever heard of that before Dorothy?” said Mike.
“No I have not.” Said Dorothy.
“What about you Brandon, have you, since you work in the zoo, ever heard of that?” said Mike.
“No I really haven’t.” said Brandon.
“Have you done research into finding similar offerings by other zoos?” said Mike.
“I have and I don’t think anyone’s doing it.” Said Brandon.
“Alright, am I to understand that the Cincinnati Zoo is a LEADING zoo?” said Mike. “Yeah it is.” Said Brandon.
“Alright you’ve got that going for you. If they weren’t a leading zoo I’d say you’d have no chance in hell to even get this idea into a set of ears, to put it shortly.” Said Mike.
“Leading organizations look for ways to continue to lead.” Said Dorothy.
“That makes sense.” Said Brandon.
“This is what we were really working on back at Bising Park when we were selling lemonade. This is what we were really trying to do. We didn’t know it at the time but when we were trying to save a couple animals from being as I later came to discover the meaning, from being euthanized, what we were really interested in was having all of the animals saved from being euthanized. “ said Dorothy.
“Is there anything wrong with that?” said Brandon.
“Maybe.” Said Mike.
“Let me here your maybe.” Said Dorothy.
“There are violent animals.” Said Mike.
“Is that all you got though?” said Dorothy.
“Basically.” Said Mike.
“Alright, then what about this. It won’t be a petting zoo. It could be a petting zoo but animals are unpredictable.” Said Brandon.
“Yes they are.” Said Dorothy.
“Would you want two exhibits for domestic cats and dogs or just one exhibit for the two of them?” said Mike.
“I mean realistically there would be two exhibits, one for dogs and one for cats.” Said Brandon.
“I like it. The zoo takes the dogs, puts em over here.” Said Mike.
“And the zoo puts the cats over here.” Said Dorothy feeding off of Mike.
“I mean that is typically how a zoo works.” Said Brandon.
“How many dogs and cats can you expect to have in each exhibit?” said Dorothy.
“That’s the problem but at the same time that’s the interest factor. I typically work in the penguin exhibit and I just notice from time to time that it’s the exhibits that have the most animals that get the most attention because there is the most to see. I’m thinking the major selling point for the public mind you would be to have as many cats and animals as possible in each separate exhibit. Theres a problem though, bringing the animals back into their cages at night. The more animals there are to be housed at night the greater the more work it takes and work takes people.” Said Brandon.
“Well how does that work with the penguins. You have a couple dozen penguins. How do you get them all in their cages for the night.” Said Dorothy.
“Well I’ll be honest with you. We don’t cage the penguins separately. They don’t really have the ability to fight each other or to be violent so we just take care of them in a group for lack of a better way of putting it but the dogs and the cats that we are talking about would be able to bite and scratch and that might take some special clothing and care to be taken by zoo keepers to work with.” Said Brandon.
“Well, you have a cat house at the Zoo. The cats are indoors in their exhibits all day. What if you pitched the idea that they housed the animals in not an open air exhibit but one that gives them space and serves the purpose of being an exhibit and a housing at the same time. I don’t know I don’t work at the zoo and I only know what you tell me about how it works but there has to be a way to handle these dogs and cats from the SPCA so that the zoo can take care of them.” Said Dorothy.
“What are the politics involved in passing house pets to the zoo? I mean when we were younger if we had gone to the zoo and there was an exhibit where we could see some what 40 or 60 medium sized dogs and some 40 or 60 medium sized house cats roaming around and playing and the such that would have been amazing! I would have loved that. Then to kids that don’t have pets and never really grew up with pets those house pets at the zoo would be exotic to them. I also think that the zoo could benefit from this new location by maybe being a place that if they would be interested could be a place that lets animals become adopted as well. Is there a reason why the zoo can’t act as an agent of adoption? Could the Cincinnati Zoo expand it’s brand and at this place where this new land was donated, wouldn’t it at least be a pitchable idea to suggest tying the zoo closer to the community and allow it teach that domestic animals are exotic somewhere, which they are.” Said Brandon.
“I think you are asking two people that aren’t involved in your field for information that you need to be the expert on. “ said Mike.
“I know, I was just speaking out loud. This is just a unique opportunity for the zoo, one that doesn’t come along quite often.” Said Brandon.
“Have you heard it discussed what other zoo keepers are interested discussing as a use for the land?” said Dorothy.
“One idea is to use it as safari space. Its actually a really popular idea. To use the space to give some of our bigger animals space to roam around more freely. If there was a local safari space where people could be driven through the space and observe our larger animals in various enclosures that could be driven through that is actually one that most people are in favor of.” Said Brandon.
“Have you asked any other zoo keepers about your pitch or have you only talked to us , because we don’t work at the zoo we can only help you with your pitch, you are the one that has this idea that needs to get it through to your board and you work with the zoo, what is the typical response to when you talk about this with other zoo keepers?” said Mike.
“We should have asked you this earlier.” Said Dorothy.
“There is this one guy, old guy. Guy that’s been there longer than any board member. This one guy that kind of took me under his wing. Guy named Frank. Frank sort of in conversation lets me know the zoo’s history and how he has seen it change over time. He loves the idea. When I approached him and discussed my idea for a domestic animal exhibit he’s the one that let me know that it makes perfect sense and that with the amount of land that was gifted that there is no reason not to try something new. Thing is when I discuss this with the younger zoo keepers that are a little bit older than myself, they don’t seem to excited about it. They ask a lot of questions that let me know they don’t think that’s the business the zoo should be in. That the SPCA exists for a reason and that the zoo is by its very nature interested in exotic animals. Frank’s opinion is that animals are animals, each is as exotic as the next. They are all interesting as hell. As he puts it. Frank’s behind the idea 100% but he’s like the only one that seems to be in favor of this concept. It’s why I called you two. You’re like my two best friends that I have known the longest and you’re both really creative and I was just hoping to get some insight into what you thought could be said to sell this idea.” Said Brandon.
“You got this long time employee on your side. “ said Mike.
“Yeah.” Said Brandon.
“Does he know any of the board members?” said Mike.
“He’s good friends with the head of the board.” Said Brandon.
“Then what you need to do is tomorrow talk to this guy. Let him know that you talked to some professional friends of yours and that some ideas were fleshed out for an intitial pitch. Before any architectural plans were drawn up or anything that an initial pitch was developed for bringing in domestic animals under the zoo’s wing and that it’s been decided it’s a great idea. “ said Mike.
“Have you been told when the zoo is going to go public with its new land holding?” said Dorothy.
“They are going to release that information to the press after they make a decision as to what they are going to do with the land.” Said Brandon.
“Alright, then you can’t drum up outside support for your idea so its on your pitch to convince them.” Said Dorothy.
“How about this. What if we drew up a Google Document and when did you say the presentation for pitches was from inside?” said Mike.
“It’s in two weeks for initial formal ideas from within the zoo.” Said Brandon.
“Alright, we’ll draw up a Google Document, send invites to me and Dorothy and over the next two weeks we can help you brainstorm all of the ideas that you need to develop your pitch. “ said Mike.
“is there a time limit on your pitch? “ said Dorothy.
“Not really. The board put out a call to all of the employees of the zoo to come up with ideas as to what to do with the land donation and since it’s a unique opportunity they are reaching out to people to see what people think. It’s a formal survey is what it’s being billed as.” Said Brandon.
“Spend some time with this Frank , and maybe let him know that you are taking this really seriously and that you are planning your career around zoo keeping and that you really want to get someone’s attention when it comes to this idea.” Said Mike.
“Dorothy, like you said. Frank seems like your strongest ally. The idea of reaching out to the SPCA and the Humane Society even seems like a strong one. It’s a shame you can’t create more public awareness about this idea so you have to make the magic happen but please understand that boards sometimes collect input even though they already have a pretty good idea of what they are going to do. I mean this is an opportunity that you have to give your presentation but if its not in the long term vision for your employer it might just get listened to and not acted on.” Said Dorothy.
“Yeah. Don’t lost heart if it doesn’t resonate with the current board members. Just remember that if this is your career, you have to really have seniority to make a major change like this. Don’t get discouraged if this idea of yours gets paid lip service and isn’t given its full due. If that makes sense. Im new into my career and I have pitched a couple new ideas to my employer at the dealership and its not always how great the idea is that gets things done sometimes there are other factors to be considered. From to time I suggest different ways we could do things and sometimes the idea resonates and sometimes it doesn’.” Said Mike.
“Yeah but sometimes something new is exactly what people are interested in. The bringing together of the zoo and domestic animals might be just something that your board needs to hear so that they can think it over. It would be a new point of contact between the zoo and the zoo’s brand and the public. They get a certain amount of people coming to the zoo right now just to see the animals. I imagine they would get more of the public involved with them if the patrons of the zoo could see something new. New is not always a bad thing. Sometimes new is exactly what is needed at just the right time and this land donation, maybe with the right pitch, if you let them know about your past and how a long time ago you thought of this and it gave you direction in life and embedded your pitch with emotion and testimony from an event that happened a long time ago. It could very well be that you get the attention you are wanting to make a dream come true.” Said Dorothy.
“It seems realistic to me. The thought that the public could come and see something familiar in an exotic light such as seeing dogs in large numbers or domestic cats in large numbers would be the core draw. It would have to be the numbers of the animals that would be the draw and the Humane Society and the SPCA would be organizations that could see to it that we provide a public service to the community by being a place where domestic animals that couldn’t find homes as puppies and kittens found homes as adults which is around the time most animals don’t get adopted from what I understand. Euthanasia of animals when its just matter of them not having been able to find a home is the most tragic part of the entire process. If the zoo could find a home for these animals that were just looked over , it could be something really special.” Said Brandon.
“That’s the pitch.” Said Mike.
“That’s the right note to hit.” Said Dorothy.
“What?” said Brandon.
“Make sure there is emotion in your voice when you are giving your pitch. Not needy emotion but confident emotion. Let them know you think that the draw would be something familiar in an exotic light. That’s the perfect way to put this because that’s what it is isn’t it Dorothy.” Said Mike.
“That’s what I am thinking myself. Just make certain you say ‘something familiar in an exotic light’. It’s just what needs to be said. “ stated Dorothy.
“Let’s take a break.” Said Mike.
“I mean this is great conversation.” Said Brandon.
“It’s better than average conversation. It’s about something real.” Said Dorothy.
“We rolled the idea over several times and thought it through. For an initial pitch this is the right kind of conversation to be having.” Said Mike.
“What’s the two of your love lives like?” said Dorothy.
There was a sort of mild pause to the conversation at this point. “Come on , it’s a fair question.” Said Dorothy.
“I’m seeing someone that I met at a local coffee shop.” Said Mike.
“What’s she like?” said Dorothy.
“She’s great. We have a lot of common interests. Shes in sales, I’m in sales. She deal in reality. I deal in cars. We handle similar styles of block of money so we know what it’s like to be dealing in high pressure sales. On our first date we took a car ride through the city and she discussed it in a way I have never really heard it talked about before. As a real estate agent would she gave me the insight into different neighborhoods and she playfully gave me her real estate pitch on the neighborhoods we drove through in between us talking about our disparate lives.” Said Mike.
“That sounds like a great date.” Said Dorothy.
“I’m not really seeing anyone. I was just in a relationship about six months ago and she got a job in another city and we knew we couldn’t make it work so we said our goodbyes.” Said Brandon.
“What about you Dorothy?” said Mike.
“Me. I’m more the match maker than the one to be matched up with someone. I introduce people to each other over and over at my events and from time to time the people I introduce to each other hit it off and they decide to meet outside of the events I plan. From time to time people let me know that serendipitously I introduced people that really enjoyed each other’s company and I’ve been told I’m responsible for at least two engagements. I haven’t heard of any weddings I’ve been responsible for but I have heard I was responsible for two engagements.” Said Dorothy.
“I imagine you develop an eye for chemistry between people in putting your events together.” Said Brandon.
“Yeah. I don’t know if it’s that or if it’s I’m just always finding the people that look like aren’t involved in a conversation and introducing them to other people that are not involved in a conversation at an event. I try and act natural about it but that’s what I am usually doing once the event has started. Noticing the people that aren’t engaged in conversation and finding a reason to get them involved in a conversation with someone.” Said Dorothy.
“That sounds like a great way to keep an event cordial.” Said Brandon.
“I don’t know if everyone does it that way, but it’s the main way I try to keep everyone involved at the function. It’s a way for me to make sure that as many people as possible have at least one meaningful conversation at my events. I want people to feel more than not left out, I want them to really meet someone that is of similar interests.” Said Dorothy.
“Dorothy, it’s never come up and lets not talk about it now, but please send me your standard rates to my email address and I’ll pass along your details to my manager. We could always use a great event at our dealership to interest our clients in just keeping us in mind as their number one car dealership. It really is about getting as many people through the door as possible and making certain they have a memorable experience. “ said Mike.
“Yeah. We could have our people talk to our people and see what happens.” Said Dorothy.
“Pass me another one of hard Lemonade would ya, Mike?” said Brandon.
“I’ll have one too.” Said Dorothy.
“Yeah, to the both of you.” Said Mike passing Brandon and Dorothy Hard Lemonade bottles and as their arms accidentally touched while grabbing the bottles from Mike they just sort of looked at each other, they looked at each other for a moment like Mike wasn’t in the room, for just a moment. They didn’t say anything they just, for a moment, noticed each other in this conversation, in this room, in this setting, after everything that was discussed, they just, noticed each other, and it was the briefest of moments but they both knew that each other noticed the other noticing the other.
It was the kind of noticing that happened at the beginning of a relationship. It was the kind of noticing that puppies and kittens noticed of each other. It was that kind of noticing. The kind of noticing that involved eyes looking at eyes for a brief moment. The kind of noticing that involved small smile and warm feelings. That kind of noticing. How many different kinds of noticing were there, well there are many kinds of noticing, but this kind of noticing was the kind of noticing that made butterflies flutter.
“So give us your pitch.” said Dorothy smiling.
“Yeah, man you had us come over here to practice your pitch. Let’s get to practicing that pitch.” said Mike.
“Alright. Fair enough.” said Brandon.
“This is going to be good. Remember to take your time. Enunciate and wow us.” said Dorothy.
“Pretend I am Frank. I already love the idea.” said Mike.
Brandon puts down his bottle of hard lemonade. He stands up. He brushes off his shirt and clears his throat and then he begins.
“Members of the zoo. I know a lot of you have been hear for quite some time and to the best of our knowledge the zoo has never been gifted an alotment of land as large as what we have recently receeived. This is the largest gift we have ever received as members of the zoo and as such I believe this presents us with a unique opportunity.
A unique opportunity lends itself towards unique decision making. I stand firm on the belief that we have the opportunity right now to engage in leadership behavior as a zoo and open an exhibit up for domestic animals. Be the first zoo to open an exhibit for domestic animals. I am talking about dogs and cats and squirrels and mice. I am asking that an alotment of this land donation be awarded to an exhibit that allows the public to come in and see the exotic nature of their own animals that they have in their own respective homes and communities. All animals are exotic.
This exhibit would also create the opportunity for the zoo to get into the business of animal adoption. Animals from these domestic animal exhibits could be adopted out to families and we could have an entirely new purpose in a wing of our zoo that would enable us to be more a part of people’s lives.” said Brandon.
“Bravo!” said Dorothy.
“Well said.” said Mike.
“Do I seem comfortable? I have been practicing in the mirror.” said Brandon.
“You seem fine. So long as you can deliver that pitch to the board, your coworkers, whoever needs to listen, you will be fine.” said Dorothy.
“It’s not really up to you to accomplish the task of producing that creation. It’s up to other people. You have the pitch. You have the for christ’s sake winning pitch. Domestic animals at the zoo. It’s just what the zoo needs. I would for crike’s sake love to go to the zoo and see a dozen or more dogs just sitting there. Just being dogs. Just dogs being dogs. Just cats walking around being cats. Some mice walking around a giant mice exhibit. Animals are animals to me. I get as excited about seeing a lion as a dalmation. I really do. If the zoo is honest it will realize that is the truth.” said Mike.
It was after his day at the zoo. Brandon was standing outside of Dorothy’s door. He was nervous. He hated being nervous. He’s known Dorothy for quite some time. He’s known her since he was a kid but he’s never been nervous. He knows why he was nervous too. Standing outside this apartment door. This door that had too much paint on it. This door that had too much laquer on it. This door that stood between him and Dorothy. It was making him nervous. He was afraid. He was afraid of going out with Dorothy because he knew something. He knew this was not just spending time together time. This was courtship. He was afraid of the courtship ritual that was beginning between him and Dorothy.
Knock, knock.
Dorothy opens the door.
“Brandon!” exclaimed Dorothy.
“Hi! Dorothy.” breahted Brandon.
“Let’s get going. I love this place.” said Dorothy.
Brandon and Dorothy were in the process of going to a restaurant. Not just any restaurant but the Maisonette. It was a big deal.
“Have you been to the Maisonnette before?” asked Brandon.
“No. I never dreamed I would go. That is why I screamed inside and outside when you asked me of I would go.” said Dorothy.
“I just thought you would like it and I wanted to show you how much I appreciated you coming over for my pitch meeting. You look amazing in that dress.” said Brandon.
“Thank you.” said Dorothy.
“Shall we leave,” said Brandon.
“Let’s go.” said Dorothy.
Now they were on their way to the restaurant. That place. That place where people came and served you food for sharing your finances with them. You did something to trade for your finances so that you could have some finances to trade and Brandon had some finances that he could trade at this restaurant.
Dorothy said “This is the nicest restarant I have ever been.”
“It’s the nicest restaurant in the United States.” said Brandon
“The nicest?” said Dorothy.
“Yeah. There isn’t a nicer restaurant than this. There are restaurants that are as good just not nicer.” said Brandon.
“Says a lot about our city doesn’t it.” says Dorothy.
“Says our city has really nice things, and then it has some McDonald’s too.” said Brandon.
“Hey! Have you ever heard of a case of food poisoning at McDonald’s?” said Dorothy.
“No.” said Brandon.
“Think about that. McDonald’s serves quality food. They do. It might be different and comprised of different processes but it’s not making people sick. You have heard of other restaurants making people sick before. Just not McDonald’s. Remember that.” said Dorothy.
“Sticking up for McDonald’s are we?” said Brandon.
“No one ever does.” said Dorothy.
“That’s because they are not worth sticking up for.” said Brandon.
“They feed people.” said Dorothy.
A waiter promptly walks over and asks if they would like to have the chef’s special.
“Would you recommend it?” said Brandon.
“I would dearly recommend the chef’s special. Today we are having glazed chicken and bread pudding.” said the waiter.
“That sounds lovely.” said Brandon.
Dorothy thought to herself that something wasn’t right.
“I’ll have soup.” said Dorothy.
“Soup?” said the waiter.
“Yes soup.” said Dorothy.
“Soup it is.” said the Waiter smiling a funny smile.
“You just assume they have soup.” said Brandon.
“I do. I assumed they have soup. In a restaurant as nice as this I assume they have soup.” said Dorothy.
“Fair enough.” said Brandon.
“If this restaurant is as nice as we were told it is, they have soup.” said Dorothy.
“The pitch is coming up next week. I’m not nervous. I would think I would be nervous but I am not.” said Brandon.
“Maybe that’s because you know you have enough respect for yourself that you don’t need to be. Maybe it’s because you know people are going to listen to you. Maybe it’s because you vaguely know it’s going to happen.” said Dorothy.
“I’m only slightly confident it will happen. I don’t even know if it would be a brave thing to do, a domestic animal exhibit. When I think of the domestic animal exhibit. I don’t think of the exhibit. I think of the zoo being in charge of animal adoption. I think of the zoo buying controlling shares in the SPCA. I think of the zoo taking care of more animals. I think of the zoo putting a stop to animal euthenasia by finding homes for all of the animals that need a home if even by providing a home for them itself on it’s land.” said Brandon
“You think about a lot. Should you be thinking of all of that?” said Dorothy.“No. I shouldn’t be thinking of much at all. I should just be thinking of taking care of the animals but they opened the floor for discussion and now there is a chance for my voice to be heard at the zoo and I do think about the future of the zoo and my career as part of it. I can’t imagine myself doing anything else other than working at the zoo. I think of the SPCA. I think of adoption agencies and puppy mills and I just want to know why the zoo can’t over see the care and protection of these animals as well.” said Brandon.
“That is a lovely thought. It’s just will anything come of it.” said Dorothy.
“The SPCA would have to partner with the Cincinnati Zoo for something to happen. Adoption centers would have to partner with the zoo. If there was an entire contingent of animal care in Cincinnati.” said Brandon.
The waiter brought over Brandon’s chicken and Dorothy’s soup dishes.
“And you are eating chicken.” said Dorothy.
“I know. I know why you said that too. This world is confusing alright. On one hand I am taking care of animals and protecting them from harm and making certain that there are species of animals that live on into the future protected from poaching. On the other hand I eat meat. I eat animals. I eat pigs, cows, chickens, and ducks. I can’t explain how this world works. I didn’t ask to be created and I imagine a world where all that gets eaten are breads, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds. We don’t live in that world.” said Brandon.
“No. No we do not. You know we are animals too Brandon. We are not robots that run on electricity. We are organic creatures that require organic nutrients to survive. In ancient times there was the hunt. We used to hunt animals to survive. We used to hunt buffalo and bison and elephant and we used to eat large game and small game. We used to be scavengers. This world we live in now is much more controlled in our cities and our plots of land where we have domesticated nature to our fit our needs. Where our homes are and our parking lots and our roads we have made this planet easier for us to live in.” said Dorothy.
“I know but what is to made of taking life? When it comes to taking life. When it comes to I am going to survive because you are not. It happens all the time. Every day thousands of times over a second as the hamburgers are distributed and as the chicken patties are consumed. There are thousands of moments every day where life is consuming life so that life can exist at the expense of the life that is not.” said Brandon.
“That is life. Life is a cycle. There is a food chain. Fish eat algae. Sharks eat fish. People eat sharks. We are at the very top of the food chain. We are so far at the top of our food chain that we contemplate moving to other planets. We think about moving to other spheres in the universe and we have the capacity to do so. We can in fact move to other planets and we send out probes to test the land and the atmosphere. We have satellites gauging the livibility of planets light years from this planet. We are so amazingly technologically advanced.” said Dorothy.
“I know and with that advancement. I read about this. There is a time period coming where the meat that we eat will be laboratory grown. There is a time period coming where the meat protein that we need to survive will come from laboratories. There is a time period coming where we will not have to eat meat. We have our science and our engineering. Really we have our engineering. If you think about it engineering is the more powerful field. We have our engineers exploring the thoughts of our scientists and we have a time period coming where farmers lives will be made easier through the cultivation of urban farming and hydroponical growth of vegetable matter and then there is the petri dish protein growth that results in meat being grown in giant vats and it is churned and toughened and we won’t have to ingest previously conscious tissue any more. There is a technological sector that is growing protein that has never been conscious. This protein can be used for a number of different purposes but if you think about it , it would make sense that a financial interest when this technology is robust enough would take an interest in it and it would scale it up to the extent that thousands of people could be fed from a factory, maybe millions, and in the process millions of animals lives will be spared over the years.” said Brandon.
“What is the future of the cow, the pig, the chicken, and the duck in that future when the lab grown meat is at the forefront though? Will the cows, pigs, chickens, and ducks just not be bred and what of the livestock that is not necessary at that point? What will happen to the animals that are being bred in captivity now when laboratory grown protein is common.” said Dorothy.
“That is why the zoo’s of the United States and the world in general need more power. Political officials need to work with zoos to promote their acquisition of land properties. Zoos do not have enough land and in not having enough land they cannot over see the protection of enough animals. There is never enough land that can be placed in the auspices of the zoo industry. Zoos never have enough land. They never have enough space for the animals that they can be taking care of.” said Brandon.
“Brandon, I think you are a little too into the concept of the zoo. Animals need to be free. They need to be wild. They need to be not controlled by people and they need to be left to their own devices to roam and explore their consciousnesses and their lives in the wild.” said Dorothy.
“You would think that. You would think animals need to be left alone by people. Not so. All of the animals on this planet are within the dominion of the human population. All of the animals on this planet could learn something from humans. Humans domesticated themselves. The first animal on this planet to become domesticated was the human. Domestication did not even exist before humans came to a point where they knew they were no longer wild. There was a time period when this entire planet was consumed in wilderness. Then the human came along and developed domestication and language. Animals need to become domesticated the same as humans have become. The process of domestication of animals needs to happen. There is no need for wilderness. For sleeping in the wild under the sky in the cold and the heat for no reason. This planet. This entire planet needs to become a home for all of the life that lives on this planet. This planet’s life needs a roof and the humans are the ones that can build the roof and the life that is living on this planet is in need of the roof that this planet can have.
If it has blood in its veins and arteries. If it is a mammal. Humans needs to be taking care of it. The prospect that there is a time period coming where there will be less need to consume previously living animal flesh is amazing. If we could progress as a species to the point where we could get the important protein we need from lab grown skin and flesh and muscle tissue that was never conscious or attached to a living organism then we can proceed to a higher form of consciousness and a higher moral state. We can begin to explore the idea that our technological progress can positively affect our collective moral abilities. We can work for a higher form of morality as a species starting at the fringes where highly moral and respectable engineering scientists are building new sources of food and higher levels of healthy food abundance, we can grow to attain a higher level of cultural morality.” said Brandon.
“It never occurred to me that humans were the first domestic animal. We are the source of domestication on this planet. Maybe there are domestic dolphins. Naturally domestic dolphins.” said Dorothy.
“That’s not possible. It’s not possible for there to be any domestic animals other than the animals that humans domesticated.” said Brandon.
“Maybe. I don’t live in a world where the only rational conscious decisions were made by humans. There is domestication in the wilderness and to a certain extent humans are not entirely domestic either. There is still a level of animal in humans. The ones that murder and that rape and that kill and pillage. It could be said that humans have not entirely domesticated themselves.” said Dorothy.
“That is what the University, the Business, the Industry, the Corporation, the School, the Sport, the Activity, the Writing is about. The avenues that keep people distracted from the wilderness. When people are writing songs and people are tinkering with computer software engineering and exploring their tools in the auto mechanic’s workshop and whittling in the wood shed that is the process of striving to be domesticated. At some point and I have put thought into this, at some point, humans woke up to the point that they could not understand their prior ways and they started to develop preoccupations. Humans started to focus and play with their environment and now there is the now.
Now is an amazing if not frustrating time period to live in. This next generation is going to have it even more difficult. There is so much that has been done. Every major and even minor invention makes it more difficult to invent something new. This computer for instance is a new form. The car is a form. The frisbee is a form. Every new form ends up in every home in the nation. Everyone always wants the new form. If someone develops an offshoot of a form that may not be wanted by all of the people. Such that everyone wants a computer but not everyone necessarily wants every brand of computer. The form. All of the forms that have been developed by the industrial revolution are wanted by all of the people. That is what the purpose of working and shopping and obtaining tools is for is that all of the people are in the process of obtaining all of the forms. That is the first point of wealth. You are at the first level of wealth when you have successfully collected all of the forms. There is much that can be done with the forms of invention but to have all of them takes a lifetime for someone that is not aware of what all of the forms are.
The children of the generation collection they know more about wealth than their collector creators because the children of the collection forms grows up with the forms and if they focus and use their time wisely end up with an understanding of life and reality and what is possible and is comfortable with oneself and can build and invent and obtain a life plan that does not involve collection.
The shoemaker’s son wears no shoes. This is a prescient story that applies to my life. I grew up with all of the amenities that a child could ask for. I had toothpaste and television. I studied the animals on television and now I am a zoo keeper.” said Brandon.
“I plan events.” said Dorothy.
“What kind of events have you planned lately?” said Brandon.
“Small events. I planned a soiree for a local business association. I booked a local club and bar. A nice one and I organized appetizers and booked a guest speaker and took care of travel arrangements and took care of RSVP’s and made certain that the entire night went smoothly for a College Hill Business Association.” said Dorothy.
“Why don’t your clients plan their events themselves? How do you stay in business when in an era with facebook all people need to do is go through their contact lists and let people know when and where to meet?” said Brandon.
“I worry about that. I worry that the computer and the internet will one day ruin event planning as an industry. People don’t have the minds to plan events and there are people that do. There are people that can take care of details with an event that escape most people. When it come to big events there is a lot of planning that needs to be done. There are lots of people that have to be coordinated and then the event planner is usually working on behalf of someone, in fact always, and this person that the event planner is working on behalf of, the person that wants the the event, they want to enjoy the event, I get paid to take care of an event and make certain the entire event is going smoothly and I am not expected to participate in the event. I am there to make certain that the food is being distributed, that there is enough wine and that people are getting their glasses. I am there like a waiter or a host and my job at an event is not to participate in the event but to make certain that the amenities of the event are being experienced smoothly. I am in constant communication with the staff of the event making certain they have what they need for a big event and even for a medium or small event. The person that wants the event thrown would not be able to spend time with their guests if I was not working in their behalf.” said Dorothy.
“That makes sense. I love people that know their role.” said Brandon.
“What is your role?” said Dorothy.
“I work with animals. I am a zoo keeper. My job is to make certain that the animals of the zoo are attended to and taken care of and on the side I think of the infrastructure of the zoo as a whole and spend time discussing with other zoo keepers the future of the zoo and I am planning my career around the zoo and it’s animals. I spend most of my time at the zoo and spend it with the animals and the money is perfect. I get enough to take care of my living quarters and my transportation and food and nighly play time such as this and I get to spend time with animals. I love animals. I love big and small animals. I know enough about the ecosystem to know that I cannot avoid eating flesh. I wish I was magical and could survive on vegetation alone. It is my biggest hatred. My least favorite food is meat. I hate that I eat it. It’s a quiet hatred, not one I am punishing myself for but I quietly hate my eating of flesh. I loathe eating cheese steaks and burgers. In fact I just saw another reason why I hate eating flesh the other day on the internet. There were some cows that were freed by PETA from a slaughter house and they were kicking their hooves in the air and looked exotically happy and joyful to be alive. We kill so many sad animals. We eat sadness. That is what eating meat is. It is eating sadness. I find that the grocery store is a sick and disgusting place to be. Eating is disgusting when it comes to meat and flesh. Eating vegetables and fruit is one thing. That is a beautiful activity if there ever was a beautiful activity to engage in but eating flesh is disgusting. Sausage is vile. The grinding up of flesh into meat products is vile. It’s one thing to eat flesh it’s another thing entirely to enjoy it. There should be no feeling aside from sadness for eating flesh. That is if you are pro life. If you are a pro life type of person someone that is interested in seeing blood flourish. If you are interested in seeing more blood living in more life then you are pro life. If you are against murder and war and are just confused by the planet and it’s state of violence on a regular basis then you are pro life. Pro life has everything to do with being in favor of the prominence of life. Anti Life is enjoying eating a steak. If your eyes light up and you think butterfly thoughts at the thought of eating a slab of steak you might not be pro life or ever took the time to think about it.
There are ignorant people and levels of consciousness on this planet. There are people that enjoy eating cheese burgers that have never even drawn a connection between the loss of life and the food they eat. The biggest source of ignorance in society today is in regards to the food chain. There are so many secrets in regards to how food is produced and greater and greater quantities of food is in need of being produced as population numbers increase. There is more farm land needed and more live stock needed to feed people and it is the saddest industry. There is joy in eating and being able to survive but there is disgust as well as the curse of the human population is what we eat and where our survival comes from. We need to continually end life so that we can survive. Our gorging on our environment so that we can live is astonishing. The source of social sadness is our food supply.
That is why Ill say it again. A source of pride and happiness and perfectionism that is growing is in the laboratory grown protein. When we do not have to engage in mass slaughtering of life to survive our level of happiness will grow. There is no happiness to be found in eating meat.” said Brandon.
“I am happy with my soup.” said Dorothy.
“I eat to survive.” said Brandon.
Brandon was at work the next morning. He was working with the Penguins. He was thinking to himself that he was not going to eat these birds and it was strange to him that there were chosen species of animal that were designated as food and that there were animals that were no food. All of the animals could be food he thought but we only eat certain animals. In the wilderness when man was wild. It was all food. He was thinking to himself that maybe that was the essence of domestication of the human species, the ever growing precision over what was considered food. As we moved away from eating the living and engaging in zombistic practices of eating flesh our level of domestication would increase.
The penguins were playing in the water and swimming around. They were scooting about being the penguins that they were. Brandon had a bucket of fish. Large Sardines. Brandon was doling out large sardines to the penguins one after the other. The penguins went into a frenzy because across the animal kingdom there is a joy that comes with eating when you are not conscious enough to understand the process that is being engaged in. When you are just happy to be eating when you are wild there is a joy in eating that which brings life and when you are conscious and thinking eating is a sadness because you see the loss of life that is being experienced in eating the food that is to be had.
None of the penguins were sad in eating the large sardines. They were perfectly happy and one after the other Brandon was feeding the penguins. They were gathered around him in a huddle and he was dropping the sardines into their gullets one after the other. The process of feeding being as savage as it is.
Dorothy was in her office. She was firm in her chair overlooking a Microsoft Outlook email interface. She was engaged presently in responding to email. She was wondering if the Cincinnati Zoo would ever engage her in conversation over setting up an event for the Cincinnati Zoo. She knows that the odds are greater than zero because she has a personal relationship with the zoo.
Mike was standing in an auto dealership waiting to make his next sale on a new automobile. He was standing there with his feet firmly planted on the ground trying to imagine how his next sale was going to go.
There is a dog sitting in a cage in the SPCA and there are people walking past it. It’s not a very large cage. The dog is looking out it’s eyes at the people that are walking by. It’s a small dog. It has a consciousness as large as any human’s consciousness. In terms of consciousness it is as conscious. When that dog looks out at this world through it’s eyes it sees an image as clear as any human. Its physiology keeps it from being able to speak. All it can do is “bark” or “howl.” It cannot build or paint. It does not have thumbs. That dog is all that dog is ever going to be. It’s never going to create fire. It’s never going to build a home. It has that fur that keeps it warm in the winter time and keeps it’s skin dry in the rain. As dry as it’s ever going to be. That dog doesn’t have access to culture. It’s an animal. It’s typically considered man’s best friend since it’s a dog. We allow it to stand next to our sides on a regular basis as humans but what about the ones that do not get adopted. If a dog goes unnoticed for a long enough period of time in this situation it gets put to sleep. If it ages too long. The SPCA, when they euthenize a dog that was unadpted it’s because that dog lost the eternal lottery. All that dog ever saw was through the bars of a cage and the SPCA felt that the dog was just unwanted enough that it had to put it down. When the SPCA puts a dog down it does so with the authority of God. That is what the humans , us , people have in this life time. Dorothy , Mike , and Brandon are human beings. Their consciousness could have coalesced into any form on this planet. They could have been crickets. They could have been born os Pandas or they could have been born as Sparrows. They could have been born as any creature on this planet but they were born as humans. They were born as the highest ranking life form on this planet that has near if not total complete mastery over it’s environment. There is nothing on this planet that the human species cannot annihiliate and destroy up to and including the planet itself if it so wanted to. Brandon Dorothy and Mike were created to be humans and in being humans they have the consciousness to communicate messages and ideas and they can fathom and intellectualize ideas. That dog that dog that is sitting in that cage that has been sitting there for too long and is aging and will never be adopted that is in the process of being put to sleep. That dog is as conscious as Brandon, Dorothy, and Mike and in being as conscious it has as clear a field of vision as they do. It can hear as good as they can if not better. It has a memory. It has feelings and emotions. It whimpers and gets excited and Brandon, Dorothy and Mike have the same emotions. The same sensations that Brandon, Dorothy, and Mike feel when they get happy are the same endorphins that that dog feels when it gets happy. The dog. The aging dog can be adopted. It can be taken care of. It can be discussed in terms of being adopted by the zoo.
The zoo that place where the people that professionally love and want to care for animals work. The zoo is the place where conservation practices occur in terms of animals. The most ardent proponents of the furthering of the conditions for animals work at the zoo. Brandon works at the zoo.
In a conference room with a three dozen people Brandon was sitting in a padded swivel chair that allowed him the freedom to spin in a full circle.
There is a Chairman of the Board for the Cincinnati Zoo. His name is Frank. Frank was sitting at the head of I counted wrong. There were four dozen people in this board room. There were several penguins too. They were dressed appropriately. Frank was in full control.
Frank stood up. He had a lazer pointer in his hand. He had a chart behind him. He stated the following.
“It has come to my attention. Through the grapevines that there is a core demographic of animal that we are not taking care of. We are clearly and have been historically overlooking a style of animal for the last one hundred and fifty years of this zoo. There is a style of animal that we have never showcased here at the Cincinnati Zoo. We have never in the history of the Cincinnati Zoo historically speaking ever taken care of , just imagine it, spider monkeys.”
There was massive applause from the several dozen people in the board room except for one.
“Would anyone like to have the floor?” said Frank.
“I would.” in a moment of bravery that few zoo keepers ever embraced Frank spoke.
“Your name, sir?” said Frank.
“My name is Brandon French.” said Brandon.
“Brandon, please speak.” said Frank.
“We don’t need spider monkeys. We need domestic animals in this zoo. We need cats and dogs and squirrels and horses and cows and ducks and mice because…” said Brandon.
“Let me stop you right there.” said a co-worker.
“This is the zoo. This is not the SPCA.” said the co-worker.
“I have a speech that I want to share.” said Brandon.
“Let him give his speech.” said Frank.
“This is ridiculous.” said the classic stopper of all things love that stops all things love in a situation like this in ever scene that this opportunity to occur has ever had in the interest of an author having to give time to the antagonist in the story because God forbid someone take an interest in a story that goes from start to finish without an antagonist. Something has to go wrong or it’s not a story. My Creative Writing instructor was adamant that stories had to have Antagonists so there. That is a moment where the antagonist peeked it’s head out. Also take note the sheer size of the story is the antagonist. The discovery of the new and the uniqueness of the story is also the antagonist. There is adversity in discovering a new thought.
“My speech is this. The SPCA is putting animals to sleep that we can be giving a home to. We have this new land that is coming to us that has not been spoken of yet at this meeting that we all know about. I am not worried about the Spider Monkeys. I just know that the more involved in animals in this city that the zoo becomes, the more animal’s lives that we can save. If the Cincinnati Zoo was what the Cincinnati Zoo could be, there would be no SPCA or even pet stores for that matter. The Future of the Cincinnati Zoo whether anyone wants to admit it or not, is to declare dominion over animals in the city of Cincinnati, within reason, but to do so. That is all.” said Brandon.
“You are crazy.” said the man that always says that in a moment like this.
“Kid. Well you are a little old to be called kid but you mentioned something. The land that is being gifted to the zoo. You are getting ahead of this zoo. This zoo does not know what it’s going to do with that land and it could be selling that land to raise money for this portion of the zoo. It is land that was gifted to us that we actually have to raise funding to take advantage of. We could just be placing it in holding until we can organize for the purposes of finding a purpose for it. You just outlined several million dollars worth of exhibition. I will tell you this. Your thoughts have been taken into consideration.” said Frank.
“Why am I crazy?” said Brandon to the man that always says that in a moment like this.
“You are crazy for trying to upend the tradition of the zoo which is to be a place where dangerouns and exotic animals are kept in places where people can gawk at them instead of the animals spending time in the wild where they can be in their natural environment. We shouldn’t be helping these animals at all.” said the man.
“When we started fire we became something on this planet. We are the Gods of this planet and to these animals we need to oversee their prevelance. If there was a place for us on this planet it would be the overseers of these animals. All of them.” said Brandon.
“We can’t take care of all of them.” said the man.
“Yes we can.” said brandon.
“You need to keep it down the meeting has to go on.” said Frank.
The meeting went on with a discussion of how the spider monkeys would be incorporated into the zoo exhibits and the space that would be allotted to the spider monkeys.
Spider Monkeys. The Cincinnati Zoo was going to accept into its holdings spider monkeys that were adopted from the wild. There were some monkeys that used to exist in the jungle swinging from tree to tree in the wild that are in the process of now existing in the Cincinnati Zoo. It’s a fascinating study in ancient ways of spending finance. The zoo is an ancient line of business that harkens back to the days of freak shows and the circus. There is a time period in human history that lasts for centuries where abuse and neglect of each other and the environment was a way of life. It’s only been since Timothy Leary passed out millions of doses of LSD and since Woodstock and since a global conflict known as the Great War Ended that human life has been aspiring for life affirming existence.
Human life is used to certain levels of trials and tribulations in that we struggle and we incarcerate ourselves. We could just as easily place humans on display that are wild. The prison system itself could be a zoo where humans are placed on display for humans in human exhibits that display the behavior of the exotic and the wild humans that have behaved in a way that is unbecoming of the ways of the human population. There is a level of domestication that a human needs to embrace that keeps him from becoming wild. We not only domesticated ourselves as humans but we have invented a word known as “criminal” and to the extent that a human being behaves like a wild animal is to the extent that a human being ends up in captivity.
Brandon left the meeting and since he was not working that day he gets in his car that was built and invented by domestic humans and he drove to his house. He went into his house and grabbed a beer and went out onto his front porch and just sat and sipped.
He had to do some thinking. He had to do some contemplating. He had to get into his head and think about his life and his career options. He went to school for biology and studied life and the workings of life. Was he supposed to be a vet. Is that the level of the relationship he was supposed to have with animals in the city. He took a hit today at the zoo. It’s not that the work became more difficult or that he was given more work to do. It’s the conceptualization of the zoo that changed in his mind. What he was seeing at the zoo was changing. Spider Monkeys. There were dogs dying at the SPCA and they were bringing in some spider monkeys.
The zoo isn’t the zoo if it houses dogs and cats. He is having his own personal moment of clarity that the rest of the people are just not having. Some people do not have existential crisises. Some people just never have them. Some people go through their entire lives and never have a thought that changes the way they behave. Some people are too normal for that too happen. Brandon was hit with an idea. The worst thing you can have occur to you in this life is to have an idea occur to you. Be normal. Be drinking at the bar. Be television watching. Be complacent never doing too much thinking and then be hit with a thought about something. Be hit hard with a thought and see a vision and your life is changed forever. The beer that Brandon was drinking was liquidating his thoughts as it’s occurring to Brandon that he’s just never going to understand. There is work he can do in his career and that he needs to work on behalf of domestic animals. If he is going to be dedicating his Biology degree to the animal kingdom. He needs to be focused on these animals that surround him. He is thinking about his heart and how he has one and he is just confused. Spider Monkeys. He knew they were going to announce something but spider monkeys isn’t it. Why isn’t there zoo funding for domestic animals. A dog park where the dogs don’t have to leave. A place for cats to spend time with cats. We could be reimagining how we spend time with animals in this city. This city has an issue with animals. It could very well be that animals remind us subconsciously what we used to be hundreds of thousands of years ago when we were living in the forest wondering questions that were the first questions.
Where did all of this come from? We were born after a lot of work and building was done. We still have work and building to do. What is the greatest good I could do on behalf of animals in Cincinnati, OH. If I was going to do the greatest good I could do on behalf of the animals in Cincinnati, OH what could I do. What can I do for animals? The zoo has it’s exhibits with it’s animals but the dogs and the cats of Cincinnati the ones that have not been adopted, how can I make certain they find homes.
The greatest good I could do would be to take care of the unwanted animals. There are wanted animals and there are unwanted animals. I need space to hold the animals though and I am fairly certain all of the land is owned. Land ownership. I can’t just claim a field and start going to work. I need to get approval and permission from humans that have this thing called authority and dominion over land. I can’t just cut down a tree and start making timber to construct a fence. I can’t own what is already owned. A long time ago there were decisions made that pass from family member to family member. Men and women hundreds of years ago spread out along the land masses and they placed sticks in the ground to denote their ownership of it and then they started building cities. Some cities were more successful at being built than others. They all ended up being similar and here in Cincinnati they decided they wanted a space where exotic animals could be gawked at because people had this currency that they wanted to, needed to spend, and the Cincinnati Zoo was started as a means of providing people with animals to look at. It wasn’t a petting zoo these were dangerous animals from exotic locations.
There has never been a Domestic Animal Zoo. There have been pet stores and there has been an SPCA there have been farms but there has never been a response to the Exotic Animal Cincinnati Zoo to the tune of a domestic animal zoo. Domestic Animals do not get a zoo. Deer get shot. Dogs get put to sleep. Cats roam the city. Squirrels get poisoned. There are animals that could use a collective society to be a part of. A city could use a space for domestic animals. Animals that could be easier to take care of and a society that showcases animals. What would be different about the Domestic Animal Zoo. It would have more animals. There would be bigger exhibits. Where in the exotic animal zoo you would see only individual and small numbers of exotic animals in an exhibit in the domestic animal zoo you might see seventy five dogs roaming around an exhibit or you might see three hundred cats roaming around a gigantic enclosure. You might see seven hundred mice. There is a draw to this kind of zoo. If people are willing to spend their money to come look at animals in small numbers. Large numbers of animals are more interesting and to top it off , you can adopt an animal from the domestic animal zoo.
Might find your self walking to the domestic animal zoo one day with a kid empty handed and come home with a mouse and a puppy. The entire life cycle of the domestic animal can be lived out at the zoo. It would be the work of a life time to build that.
Brandon is just thinking to himself. Why do thoughts like this occur to people? Why do life changing thoughts take hold in people’s minds. Why do thoughts occur in general? What is it about people that create sensations in their brains that bring action.
Brandon was finished with his beer. He had been for a while. He was just sitting there on the porch thinking to himself spider monkeys. There were no spider monkeys for thousands of miles of Cincinnati but there would be some spider monkeys here soon.
Mike, Dorothy, and Brandon were at the Comet. It was the nighttime.
“I don’t want to think about the zoo.” said Brandon.
“Well let me help you forget.” said Dorothy. “Whoa there. I’m here too.” said Mike.
“I’m just sayin. He doesn’t need to fret about a situation he can do nothing about.” said Dorothy.
“You two are like a couple.” said Mike.
Brandon sort of didn’t say anything.
Dorothy didn’t say anything either.
Brandon squeezed Dorothy’s hand.
Dorothy squeezed back.
Mike didn’t notice.
They noticed that Mike didn’t notice.
They had been noticing each other for some time now.
Mike would find out , eventually.
“I bet you would like my friend Sally.” said Dorothy.
“Sally?” said Mike.
“I’d meet Sally. I meet people all the time but I don’t get set up very often. I would meet Sally.” said Mike.
“What do you mean you meet people all of the time?” said Dorothy.
“Tindr.” said Mike.
“You use Tindr?” said Brandon.
“Yeah I use Tindr. I don’t have a problem using Tindr.” said Mike.
“How deep into Tindr are you?” said Dorothy.
“I’ve met more than a couple girls. We keep in touch. I notice it can be a real casual scene.” said Mike.
“Well, ideally, I would want you to take Sally seriously.” said Dorothy.
“How seriously, we haven’t met.” said Mike.
“That’s not what I mean. I mean treat her better than you would a Tindr Girl.” said Dorothy.
“Alright. I treat the Tindr girls just fine.” said Mike.
“Well however good you treat girls from Tindr. Treat Sally better.” said Dorothy.
“Like instead of taking her to TGI Fridays, take her to Amol India and instead of drinking Coor’s Light drink Indian Beer.” said Brandon.
“I gotchu.” said Mike.
“No. That’s not what I mean at all.” said Dorothy.
“What do you mean then?” said Mike.
“At least try to think of this as the first of several dates, not like a fling.” said Dorothy.
“That is what I see Tindr as. Just flings looking to get flung, unless someone sticks. Like if they start calling me back at any point. I get nervous.” said Mike.
“That is why you are single.” said Dorothy.
“It is a pretty good strategy isn’t it.” said Mike.
“End up forty and single, and see if you don’t get judged as a miscreant on a regular basis.” said Dorothy.
“That’s like fifteen years away.” said Mike.
“Fifteen years isn’t that far away and I just got set up with Sally.” said Mike.
“I don’t know if I want you to meet her now.” said Dorothy.
“How about this. I’ll show you how serious I am about Sally by talking to her on the phone right now and we can set things up and I can take her on a tour of downtown Cincinnati.” said Mike.
“No.” said Dorothy.
“Come on. I really want to meet Sally.” said Mike.
“No.” said Dorothy
“I didn’t know you used Tindr like that. It’s probably not hard for you to get dates, I bet you have a photo of yourself with a car in in it.” said Dorothy.
“I do have a photo of myself with a car in it.” said Mike.
“It’s nice too.” said Dorothy.
“Sort of.” said Mike.
“It’s not yours.” said Dorothy.
“No. It’s mine. I have one I don’t drive.” said Mike.
“Oh. Well. Sally isn’t a Tindr Girl. This isn’t the playboy mansion.” said Dorothy.
“Dorothy. I’ll leave it up to you. I’m not going to beg to meet Sally. I have gone this long without ever meeting her, I can go the rest.” said Mike.
“She’s right over there.” said Dorothy.
“Who?” said Mike.
“Who?” said Brandon.
“The one with the green martini.” said Dorothy.
“Is she expecting me to come up to her and say something? Did we already get set up?” said Mike.
“I got a text that says she says you are cute.” says Dorothy.
“Does she know I have used Tindr in my past? Let’s be upfront.” said Mike.
“Let me see. Let’s be honest. That’s big news.” said Dorothy.
Dorothy Texts | Mike has used Tindr before and he is still single |
Sally Texts | The same is true for me, tell him to come over. |
“Alright, apparently you are both freaks. I didn’t know.” said Dorothy.
“That would be a lovely way to start the conversation with Sally.” said Brandon.
“Goddamn right. Apparantly Dorothy thinks we are both freaks because of our Tindr use.” said Mike.
“That is not what I want you to use as an opener.” said Dorothy.
“I think it’s a good opener.” said Brandon.
Dorothy stabs a fork in Brandon’s leg.
“Da fuck?” said Brandon
“Shush.” said Dorothy with a quircky smile on her face.
“I’ll be fine I have talked to women before.” said Mike.
“But Sally is special. She’s a woman that you don’t meet very often.” said Dorothy.
“I do just fine with all kinds of women. I’m going over to talk to her.” said Mike.
Mike walks over to talk with Sally. She greets him with a smile.
“You want to dance?” asked Brandon.
“But no one is dancing.” said Dorothy.
“They have music playing.” said Brandon.
“Everyone will be watching us?” said Dorothy.
“I know.” said Brandon.
With that Brandon walked over to the juke box and chose a slow song. Something by John Mayer and and a couple by the Goo Goo Dolls. Brandon walked back over to Dorothy and placed his arm beneath her back and he pulled her in close and they started to sway. Just sway. Dorothy bit her lip knowing Sally could see her. Mike and Sally sat back and watched since they had just met for now. There were some other couples joining in for the sake of the night.
“You started this.” said Dorothy.
“You shouldn’t have touched my arm.” said Brandon
Dorothy knew exactly what he was talking about. That moment. That moment when they were talking about the Domestic Animal exhibit. Then she started thinking about how their children could be raised with animals. How they would spend so much time at the zoo. Isn’t that a good life? At the zoo taking care of animals? She was unsure, he would never make much money as a zoo keep but he did get to spend time with Lions. She might not want this to get too serious.
He swept her off her feet but he didn’t sell cars.
Dorothy is enjoying the evening and Brandon is as well. Brandon mentions to Dorothy how they want to talk to him about drawing up some plans for the Domestic Animal Exhibit.
Dorothy didn’t hear him correctly. She heard him say they didn’t want to talk to him.
So they both end up disappointed at the mention of some good news.
Brandon noticed that the pace of their dance had slowed. She was seemingly into at first and then things, just seemed to change. She pulled back from him and she was slightly distant in her body language.
Brandon pulled closer to her and she pulled back. She kept dancing though. She kept the rhythm of the song.
Mike and Sally came over and they were locked tight in a love embrace in all manner except the mouth.
Sally mouthed to Dorothy “I LOVE HIM!” in excited facial expression.
Mike mouthed to Brandon “She’s amazing!” in appreciative facial expression.
Everyone was together in a lover’s embrace except for Dorothy and Brandon.
Dorothy was thinking about how they work together and how it wouldn’t work out. She had never envisioned herself falling for a zoo keep. It’s not a position she can take home to her mother. Her mother married a beautiful business owner that had the answers for everything. Brandon , Brandon would be good at raising a child though. She changed her mind. She fell into Brandon and gave up on her thoughts of not caring about a zoo keep. They have dreams too. Brandon noticed the extra attention and he noticed Sally smiling at him and Dorothy. Mike was sort of surprised to see the two of them dancing because they seemed like they were friends.
Sally said “Hey, let’s go to a night club.”
“Which one?” said Mike.
“Spy Club.” said Sally.
“I’m heading in.” said Dorothy.
“No you’re not.” said Brandon.
“You’re not the boss of me.” said Dorothy.
“I’m your coach. I’m keeping you in the game.” said Brandon.
“That’s funny.” said Mike.
“Alright, fine. We’re going to Spy Club. You’re buying me a drink, coach.” said Dorothy
“Fine. Why do you keep wanting to get drunk?” said Brandon.
“Because it’s fun.” said Dorothy.
Spy Club was as exclusive as it gets in Cincinnati. It was a club that was in a rarely visited part of town and it just had an aura cosmopolitan in a blue collar town. Blue collar. The kind of town that dealt with crime and dirt and wood and metal. Cincinnati had it’s white collar contingent but it was still a blue collar town. Sport’s town. It was a town of music notes and woodwinds. Cincinnati was a town that had the amenities of the larger cities. It had it’s music and it ballet. It had it’s people and tonight there were going to be some people going to the Spy Club.
Spy Club was a hot number of a name for the Spy Club. It was the kind of name that was built for embelishment. It was the kind of name that you remembered having been to some years later when you stopped going to clubs. Spy Club. It was the intriguing place that dancing and music and entertainment and the such occurred and it happened that they were going.
Two timing up in this piece.
Spy Club. The scene was popping. The bartenders were bitches and the Dj was into dance hall. The place was stacked with afro’s and crew cuts alike. The entire vibe of the scene was get your freak on. The way the lights hit the mirrors and the audience to everyone’s audience was alive. She was twerking too.
Dorothy walked in holding Brandon’s hand. Mike walked squezzing Sally’s ass. Everyone was all smiles. The team was long since having discussed plans for the domestic animal exhibit at the zoo. They did their due diligence but they had more diligence to do. It would be worked out over drinks.
Dorothy was sitting next to Brandon on the velvet bench. Brandon was surprised to find out he had a girlfriend.
“Let’s just watch people dance?” said Brandon.
“You could watch me?” said Dorothy.
“I didn’t think you were going to dance?” said Brandon.
“I always dance.” said Dorothy.
Dorothy grabbed Sally’s hand and the two of them started to dance.
Mike leaned over to Brandon.
“It’s like we’re in a music video!” said Mike.
“But we’re not. We’re in a book!” said Brandon.
“Yeah, true.” said Mike.
Dorothy and Sally were grinding on each other. Someone came over and poured champagne on their dresses and they kept dancing. Smiling the whole time. Then someone came and rubbed their chests with caviar and popped bottles. Then Brandon stopped the proceeding.
“WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU!?” said Brandon.
“Wait, no. I paid for that caviar last year. It’s been aging. I always eat caviar off my blouse at Spy Club.” said Dorothy.
“Da Fuck? I’m out. Ya’ll too freaky for me.” said Brandon.
___And they held a conversational lock in for adults over thirty to raise funds from people over forty paid for by people over fifty and it was called TANTRUM and they just kept talking until the SPCA started giving its animals to the zoo and dropping them off
They start a kickstarter campaign to adopt all of the animals at the SPCA and they place them in an exhibit space in a warehouse similar to that of the penguin exhibit at the zoo. They make friends with a carpenter’s team on angie’s list and they just keep working to develop a show piece for the zoo.
The zoo passes on it and the animals all make their way back to the SPCA because the police find a permit problem with the exhibit.
They lose everything.
Then later in life they are int their career positions and they approach the problem differently. With escrow. They develop a presentation for the local business association that they have been a part of for over a decade now. They get the 4 businesses to sign on but the decision to make the 5th is difficult and languishing and it never happens. No one , takes an interest in making certain that all of the animals will find a home. There is then talk of a sanctuary in the suburbs where the animals can roam freely on a preserve but even that gets shot down.
They tried their entire lives to get some animals adoptive homes and no one signed on even though people said they were going to and it just never happened.
No one ever stopped the animals from being euthenized.