Necessary Work

I confess that I am utterly, 100% tired of hearing about fire alarms.  Not tired of *hearing* fire alarms - though I suspect that would get pretty old, pretty fast if they were going off all the time.  But hearing *about* them.  It seems like our zoo has been getting fire alarms installed since... well, since the invention of fire.  Every day we have contractors going around working on the project, which has been lasting for years.  I have no idea when it will be over.  I have no idea if it will ever be over

Not particularly wanting to die in a fire myself - and certainly not wanting any of the animals to go up in flames, should one break out after hours, I can certainly appreciate the importance of the project, even if I had no idea that it was so... involved. I suppose on some level I'm impatient for it to get finished so that we can move on to other projects, projects which I freely admit hold a lot more interest to me.  Upgrading behind-the-scenes animal facilities.  Exhibit renovations.  Building new exhibits so we can bring new species in to the zoo!  Pretty much, anything that directly pertains to the animals. 

It's exhausting - but inescapable - how much of the work that goes on at the zoo - how much of the time and money and labor spent - goes towards things that are not directly related to animals, but are instead part of the nebulous infrastructure.  In the end, all of it benefits the animals by improving the safety of the facility and our ability to care for them, but it's hard to get past the basic impatience with it and want to move on to the more fun, interesting projects.  Nor is the feeling exclusive to the staff.  It's not that hard, at the end of the day, to raise money for a new exhibit for a cool, exciting new animal... but what your zoo might really need is to get some work done on your sewer lines, or needed electrical work, or maybe repave your paths so you don't have potholes that swallow wheelchairs, golf carts, and anything else that goes down them.  All important work, but less likely to attract the attention of a deep-pocketed donor.

After all, most donors want something that their name can be slapped on in gilded letters.  An aquarium?  A rainforest building?  A savanna?  Great!  A compost facility?  Less appealing.  Trenchwork?  Even less so.

Much like the staff, a lot of the work that goes on at zoo takes place quietly behind the scenes.  Some of it unglamorous.  Some of it, quite frankly, is boring.  All of it is necessary, because all of it, in one shape or another, contributes to maintaining the zoo and supporting its mission.