And he said, “I figure you got three choices.” He said, “If you want to-” He said, “I want-” He had had a meeting in his apartment with me and about 10 others on Wednesday night, the day they told him he was fired. And he told us all, we were all, it was a very odd mix of people. Some were senior managers like me, others were keepers. He said, “I want the entire staff to quit, to resign on Friday afternoon.” So that had happened on Wednesday. Now it was Friday and he says, “Somebody’s gonna have to take care of these animals, and he said, “You’re the only one that knows how to do that.” So he said, “If you want to stay,” he said, “I’ll respect that.” He said, “But if you say anything negative about me,” he said, “you’ll never work in the zoo business again.” And then number two, he said, “But that’s not what I want you to do. I want you to quit, I want you to resign.” And he walked away. It’s the last time I ever, last words I ever spoke with him. So that afternoon, around four o’clock, the chairman of the commission came out to the zoo.
