Satire: International Zookeeper Day

"10-4", in radio call, is the signal for "Yes" or "Understood."  It's also the date of International Zookeeper Day (which, puzzlingly enough for me, is months away from National Zookeeper Week.  Go figure.)  

It's been a rough year for zookeepers (and, I mean, anyone else), and with layoffs and cost-cutting, there are certainly fewer of us now, active and at work, than there were at the beginning.  Everyone could use a laugh around now.  Here, with a little bit of humor, is the Facebook page "Tao of Zookeeping" with its take on this highest of holidays.

"On International Zookeepers Day Eve, zookeepers all over the world put their work boots outside the break room. After everyone goes home, Mother Zookeeper puts presents in the boots of good keepers: zip ties, duct tape, maybe a new multi-tool, and donuts (don’t eat the boot donuts). For bad keepers, she brings broken rakes, unruly guests, and lower back pain.

Mother Zookeeper was originally a real person, a volunteer at one of the largest zoos in history, the great zoo at Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital. During the great feast of Panquetzaliztli, in late December, the zoo was free to all guests, and Mother Zookeeper would bring the keepers spicy chocolate drinks to keep their spirits up. Soon the real Mother Zookeeper passed away, but it became tradition to give the zookeepers chocolate drinks at Panquetzaliztli.

After the fall of the Aztec empire to the Spanish, the tradition crossed the Atlantic to the colonial powers that had conquered the new world. The Catholic Church, upset that such a celebration would occur so close to Christmas, moved the festival to another day sacred to zookeepers, 10-4. In each different country, the keepers adapted the Mother Zookeeper celebration to their local area. Gone were chocolate drinks, replaced by haggis, escargot, and lutefisk

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By the end of the 19th century, as zoos began to open in the Americas and Australia, the custom moved again, again taking a decidedly local flavor (Vegemite, anyone?). With the advent of the internet, zookeepers the world over could learn about Mother Zookeeper and celebrate the same day, October 4th, with a more universal set of treats.

So next October 3rd, be sure to set out your boots in front of the break room. If you’ve been good, a little old lady driving a flying golf cart will stop by and give you special treats. And if you happen to be at the zoo late that night, maybe, just maybe, you’ll hear the jingle of keys in the sky, and you’ll know Mother Zookeeper is making her rounds."