How long has that been vacant?” “Oh, about three months.” “Cut it.” “Keeper, such-and-such keeper. What’s that?” “Well, that’s a swing keeper and they can work anywhere in the zoo.” “Is it filled right now?” “No, but we’ve interviewed applicants, and we’re recommending to the city who to hire.” “Cut it.’ I mean, in 10 minutes I lost 10 positions in the zoo, plus a lot of money. I was so depressed, I went by to see Kirkpatrick on the way back to the zoo, and I said, “You know, I think now is the time to just keep the city’s money, but get out from under their control. Because we can’t go through this every few years. We need continuity.” And he agreed and we sat down and write up, in other words, it wouldn’t be controlled by the society, but they would be a big participant in it. But the city, who’s gonna keep, if we want their money, we’ve got to have. But those were more honorary. I mean, the mayor was on that trust, but the mayor liked the zoo. I told you about her.
