The then general curator, George Irving, was an interesting guy. You have to understand that this was my first job. I was literally beside myself with joy that I had this position. I went to work a week before I should have, and he made it perfectly clear to me that I couldn’t begin employment at the zoo, despite what the park district had said, because it was midway through a pay period and he didn’t keep the books that way. And I said, “I’m here, they told me to start, I’m starting, I’m ready to go to work.” He said, “All that’s fine, but I will not put you on the payroll until the next pay period. And if you’re here, you won’t be paid for working for this week.” I said, “Great, I’m in, I don’t care about the paycheck.” And I went to work, that was our first interaction.
