Zoos...

I used to be bothered at church during the first couple of weeks of the fall semester. I felt like an animal at the zoo. But not an elephant or giraffe. Just a plain-jane-run-of-the-mill animal who is generally asleep when all the spectators file past on their way to the main event animals like lions and tigers.

But this year I felt different. I was actually comfortable mingling around the zoo. I finally realized that it's actually good for some people to see the lions and tigers. For some the lions and tigers got them there but they will become fascinated with the diversity of the animal kingdom and will stick around to play and make noises and create offensive odors, like all good zoo animals do.

Others will leave once the lions and tigers go to other zoos. They will be content with listening to the lion's roar through their ipods and settling into an environment that is a little more tame and safe than that of the zoo, where you can never be sure if the lions and tigers are around, and you aren't quite comfortable with how all the other zoo creatures act.