Shadowlands

Perfect, well almost, day with the boys in the living desert. Camel rides, giraffe feeds, stunning desert gardens alive from the recent winter rains, and all finished off with a cosmopolitan at the Cheesecake Factory.

And now about the "almost". So Reuben was feeding the giraffes, an add on for $5 for which you bought about 5 carrots. Except the couple behind us didn't want to accept that Reuben was so entirely excited about the huge, long tongue that he couldn't contain himself and kept rubbing his nose, unable to feed the giraffe. The problem then was that the giraffe would have wanted to walk away. That was fine, encouraging him to approach the giraffe whilst explaining what might have happened. But instead, a guy behind us perked up behind his back "Why's he taking so long. There's a line a mile long waiting to feed the giraffe". So up comes mama bear and gives him my opinion on his rushing Reuben. I couldn't believe the insensitivity of him.

As we walked away and typical of me when Reuben is hurt in this way, I felt the tears coming. I felt a tap on my shoulder as one of the rangers approached. "That was out of order. I'm so sorry. Would you like to come back again before we start the next feed so your son can have some time by himself with the giraffe?" And we did. And he was still tickled pink, but he absolutely loved the experience.

I just wish there was a base level of humanity in all of us when it comes to dealing with strangers. Smirky comments behind my son's back I will continue not to tolerate and if you try, I'll do as the Pope suggests and sock you one in the eye.