Tuesday, March 10, 2009

confusion abounds.

On the second floor, there is an interactive exhibit where little kids can crawl through a hole in the wall and into a small room. This interactive also happens to be near the men's room.

Father, seeing the men's room sign near the interactive: Aww, it's a tiny little men's room!

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Stingrays (and sharks, and sawfish...) use a hole called a spiracle to breathe. This works as a pump, opening and closing, pushing water over the animal's gills. On stingrays, it is very large and located directly behind their eyes. A very concerned grandmother and grandson approach.

Grandma: Excuse me, we have to ask why you removed the eyes from all of your stingrays in the big tank. The hole looks big enough to put my fist through!
Employee: Oh, that's no their eye socket, it's their spiracle, its how they breathe.
Grandma: Oh, no. You don't understand, let me show you.
Employee: No, really, it's how they breathe. We didn't remove any of their eyes.
[Grandma proceeds to insist showing the employee, who then points out where the animals' eyes are.]

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Woman looking at prawn (large shrimp): Can we touch the roaches?

inappropiateness.

Boisterous hispanic family comes into the stingray touching area.

Adult:
Yo! Touch a stingray, yo!
12-year old: Nah, you touch it!
Adult: No, you do it! You scared!
12-year old: Man, you such a fag! You touch boners, but you won't touch a stingray!

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From our corporate safety training video: If it's wet and it's not yours, don't touch it.

reading and listening.

Mom and three kids walk into Touch-A-Shark. I start talking, and the kids are listening.

Me: Hi, guys, you can touch any shark with-
Mom: Kids! Listen! Mr. Matt is going to tell you how to touch a shark.
Me: ..uh, with two fingers, and try not-
Mom: He's telling you how to touch. Are you listening?
Me: ...um, try not to touch fins or tails...

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Two grandparents approach the touch area with a little girl. She tries to come in the exit.

Grandma: No no no, look, see? It says "exit." What's that sign say?
Girl: "Enter Here?"
Grandpa: Right!

They come in, I explain that all the animals are touchable and totally safe to touch. They approach the Touch-A-Jelly exhibit, which is clearly labeled.

Grandma: We can't touch jellies, can we?
Grandpa: Can we touch the jellies?
Me: That's what it says!