Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Oh won't someone please think of the ducklings!

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Oh won't someone please think of the ducklings!

    So now that it's summer time we have a small local attraction that happens. At The library downtown that I work at a few years ago the park behind the library was completely renovated and with it they put in a long wetland/pond. Almost immediately after the wetland was officially opened a pair of mating ducks decided to make it their home and they come back every spring. So of course by early summer comes baby ducklings that are born and that's when the paranoid people start up. Convinced that the ducklings are in trouble, that we must save them. Had a conversation with one guy yesterday


    Worried patron: You see the ducklings in the wetland!
    Mr. S: Yes sir their here every year

    WP: No, you have to do something they're in trouble, they can't get out!
    MR.S : Sir they're fine

    WP: No, you don't understand they can't jump out on their own!
    Mr. S: Sir, they're fine they will just swim around for a few weeks and then fly off, they are always fine every year

    Wp: No last year the eggs got smashed, they can't jump out on their own, the mother duck is standing on the walkway and honking, they're going to drown!

    MR. S: Sir, they are ducks they will be fine
    WP: Well it's going to be your fault when tomorrow they are dead because they drowned!


    This seems to be a somewhat regular thing, people are convinced that the ducks are trapped. There is a walkway that goes over a small part of it and the ducklings will go in and out and people will always think they are trapped in there as well and demand we do something. One guy after the ducklings had flown off for the season was convinced we had murdered all the ducks and were hiding the footage of us doing it . As for the smashed eggs comment last year we didn't have any ducks because the city put nitrate(sp?) in the water as they have had trouble with people putting small fish in there that would multiply and then when winter would come they would have to find a way to get rid of the fish safely as people would freak over "the fishes dying!" but this year they just put die in the water because they're cheap
    Last edited by Mr. Security; 07-03-2015, 03:44 PM.

  • #2
    Just tell that last guy to check out the snack bar, where the Special of the Day is Peking Duck...
    "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
    "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
    "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
    "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
    "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
    "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
    Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
    "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

    Comment


    • #3
      Quoth Mr. Security View Post
      Worried patron: You see the ducklings in the wetland!
      Mr. S: Yes sir their here every year

      WP: No, you have to do something they're in trouble, they can't get out!
      MR.S : Sir they're fine

      WP: No, you don't understand they can't jump out on their own!
      Mr. S: Sir, they're fine they will just swim around for a few weeks and then fly off, they are always fine every year
      ...
      WP: Well it's going to be your fault when tomorrow they are dead because they drowned!
      Someone is unclear on the concept of "ducks". As in, birds that swim. And fly! Multi-tasking birds!

      How can people be so brain-rotted stupid?! Does nobody visit the zoo anymore? Or watch nature documentaries on TV? Good grief, I knew that ducks swam when I was three years old, and this grown person can't comprehend that basic fact?!
      I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.
      My LiveJournal
      A page we can all agree with!

      Comment


      • #4
        I'm amazed you haven't seen anyone climbing down to rescue the poor little things before they drowned.

        Comment


        • #5
          We get baby seals on the beach. The mother leaves the pup on the beach while she goes hunting, sometimes for up to 48 hours. The seal pup lays there motionless and waits for mom. The caveat is that if people get too close, the mom will get scared and flee, abandoning her pup.

          So many times, guests will run up to me telling me that there's a baby seal stranded on the beach.
          Guests will run up to me telling me that it must be sick because "I walked right up to it and it's barely moving!"

          The baby seal is perfectly healthy and it was just fine before you approached it; now that it's been approached by people it's in jeopardy of being abandoned.

          The last seal pup we had, a guest showed me a pic that could have only been taken by walking right up to it and holding the camera directly overhead. Fish & Wildlife had to retrieve the poor pup and take it to a wildlife center because after the guest did that, it was abandoned.
          Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

          Comment


          • #6
            Quoth EricKei View Post
            Just tell that last guy to check out the snack bar, where the Special of the Day is Peking Duck...
            Like button please mods

            Comment


            • #7
              How deep is the wetland? I'm betting eventually someone is going to jump in to try and 'rescue' those poor ducklings, then complain to you about being mislead because the water looked like it only went up to their little tummies, yet turned out to be seven or eight feet deep.

              Come on it's an old wives tale for a reason.

              Comment


              • #8
                I'd be worried about humans hurting them, not that ducks can't swim. Of course I can hardly go anywhere that the average person interacts with with animals. I spend the whole time waiting for someone to try to scare or otherwise mess with the animal.
                Replace anger management with stupidity management.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Quoth XCashier View Post
                  How can people be so brain-rotted stupid?!
                  And you've been reading this site how long?
                  "I don't have to be petty. The Universe does that for me."

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Quoth Ironclad Alibi View Post
                    And you've been reading this site how long?
                    I know, silly me. There are a few tiny embers of faith in humanity still smoldering in my psyche. Very few.

                    But still, to not know a basic fact like "ducks swim" is just crazy. That is humanity having hit rock bottom and breaking out the jackhammers and dynamite.
                    I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.
                    My LiveJournal
                    A page we can all agree with!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      I was going to say 'you need a sign' ... then I remembered where I am.


                      Still, I wouldn't have known about the risk to the baby seal, so a sign would help prevent me from inadvertently causing harm. (Being that I DO read signs.)
                      Seshat's self-help guide:
                      1. Would you rather be right, or get the result you want?
                      2. If you're consistently getting results you don't want, change what you do.
                      3. Deal with the situation you have now, however it occurred.
                      4. Accept the consequences of your decisions.

                      "All I want is a pretty girl, a decent meal, and the right to shoot lightning at fools." - Anders, Dragon Age.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Quoth Seshat View Post
                        Still, I wouldn't have known about the risk to the baby seal, so a sign would help prevent me from inadvertently causing harm. (Being that I DO read signs.)
                        You, yes. Nearly everyone else around you, no. And if you try to correct them, they'll think you're a mean and horrible animal hater.
                        I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.
                        My LiveJournal
                        A page we can all agree with!

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Quoth Seshat View Post
                          I was going to say 'you need a sign' ... then I remembered where I am.


                          Still, I wouldn't have known about the risk to the baby seal, so a sign would help prevent me from inadvertently causing harm. (Being that I DO read signs.)

                          We have a saying at the library "Just because there at a library doesn't mean that they can read"


                          Also so far no one has tried to go in, well at least not after the ducks. Thankfully it's a shallow wetland so no idiots will drown but they would have to deal with one pissed off momma duck if they tried

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Swan

                            Quoth Mr. Security View Post
                            Least not after the ducks. Thankfully it's a shallow wetland so no idiots will drown but they would have to deal with one pissed off momma duck if they tried
                            Shame it could not be a Canada Goose or a Swan, then they would really learn how well a mother protects it's chicks.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              We have a lot of wild ducks and rabbits that roam the park. They're not ours but people are constantly running up to me freaking out about how one of our animals have gotten out. My first thought is always "oh my god I hope it wasn't one of the flamingos, porcupines, or komodo dragons. I really wish I had a walkie on me right now so I could issue an alert" but then I'll rush over and find it is just a rabbit munching on some grass or a tiny herd of ducklings waddling behind their mom towards a pond.

                              I do worry about the ducklings, though. Especially on busy days. Crowds of people have a habit of not watching where they walk.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X