You cannot drive around with penguins in the back of the truck
The red and blue lights flashed me from behind. I wasn’t sure what I had done wrong but dutifully pulled to the side of the road.
The officer stepped up to the side of my pick-up. “Howdy. Do you know why I pulled you over?”
I looked at the officer, my face reflected in his sunglasses. “Sorry, officer, I really don’t know. I was doing the speed limit, using my turn signals… My cell phone is off.”
He tapped his hat. “Well, son, what you got in the back of your pick-up is an unsecured load.”
I looked in my rearview mirror to catch the orange flashing movements of the contents in the bed of the pick-up. “Is that against the law?” The orange flashing movements became shaking movements.
“No, no, it isn’t, but if something were to fly out of the back of your truck, that would be littering, and that is punishable by a $500 fine.”
“Well, no problems with that here, officer. Everyone knows that penguins can’t fly.” The black and white birds shook their heads.
The officer looked at me and then peered over the top of his shades and into the bed of my truck. “Penguins? What are you doing with penguins in the back of your pick-up?”
“Just driving around.” The penguins nodded their approval; orange beaks flashing in the air.
“You can’t drive around with penguins in the back of your pick-up. Take them to the zoo.”
“Right away, sir.” I started the pick-up and drove the penguins to the zoo.
The penguins piled out of the back of the pick-up, and we headed for the front gate. I never realized how expensive it could be to take 12 penguins to the zoo, but I paid the entrance fee, grabbed a cap for one of the penguins, and we started the tour.
The gray elephants were a big hit with the penguins. They even tried to communicate with each other. With all of the trumpeting and honking going on, it seemed like they had a good deal to say.
We went to the monkey cages. The penguins watched the monkeys; the monkeys watched the penguins. Then the penguins watched the monkeys watching the penguins, and the monkeys watched the penguins watching the monkeys watching the penguins. Then some of the penguins decided to watch the penguins watching the monkeys watching the penguins, and some of the monkeys decided to watch the monkeys watching the penguins watching the monkeys watching the penguins. After that, it was too confusing trying to figure out who was watching whom and why. As the penguins waddled away from the monkey cage, the monkeys waddled away from the penguins.
We saw polar bears – the penguins were confused as to how anything so large could live in such a white environment; the polar bears ignored the penguins as if they didn’t exist.
By the time we made it to the aviary, some penguins had balloons, some had cotton candy, and a couple had two scoops of ice cream on a sugar cone. Of course the one penguin was still wearing the cap we had purchased on first entering the zoo.
The birds flying all around the penguins just seemed to incite a longing in my poor black and white friends. They began sliding down the cement sidewalks, squawking at their feathered friends in the air, and just seemed to be doing their best to imitate flight without the benefit of being able to do much more than waddle and slide. Even when we left the aviary, they were still squawking and flapping their wings and sliding around.
The next day, I handed the penguins sunglasses and loaded them up into the pick-up again. Pulling out onto Main Street, red and blue lights flashed me from behind.
The officer stepped up to the side of my pick-up. “I thought I told you yesterday that you can’t drive around with penguins in the back of your pick-up.” The orange of the penguins’ beaks flashed as they nodded their agreement with the officer’s statement.
“Yes, officer, you did, but I am not just driving around with penguins in the back of my pick-up. They had so much fun at the zoo yesterday that I am taking them to the beach today.”
Adopt a penguin!
The officer stepped up to the side of my pick-up. “Howdy. Do you know why I pulled you over?”
I looked at the officer, my face reflected in his sunglasses. “Sorry, officer, I really don’t know. I was doing the speed limit, using my turn signals… My cell phone is off.”
He tapped his hat. “Well, son, what you got in the back of your pick-up is an unsecured load.”
I looked in my rearview mirror to catch the orange flashing movements of the contents in the bed of the pick-up. “Is that against the law?” The orange flashing movements became shaking movements.
“No, no, it isn’t, but if something were to fly out of the back of your truck, that would be littering, and that is punishable by a $500 fine.”
“Well, no problems with that here, officer. Everyone knows that penguins can’t fly.” The black and white birds shook their heads.
The officer looked at me and then peered over the top of his shades and into the bed of my truck. “Penguins? What are you doing with penguins in the back of your pick-up?”
“Just driving around.” The penguins nodded their approval; orange beaks flashing in the air.
“You can’t drive around with penguins in the back of your pick-up. Take them to the zoo.”
“Right away, sir.” I started the pick-up and drove the penguins to the zoo.
The penguins piled out of the back of the pick-up, and we headed for the front gate. I never realized how expensive it could be to take 12 penguins to the zoo, but I paid the entrance fee, grabbed a cap for one of the penguins, and we started the tour.
The gray elephants were a big hit with the penguins. They even tried to communicate with each other. With all of the trumpeting and honking going on, it seemed like they had a good deal to say.
We went to the monkey cages. The penguins watched the monkeys; the monkeys watched the penguins. Then the penguins watched the monkeys watching the penguins, and the monkeys watched the penguins watching the monkeys watching the penguins. Then some of the penguins decided to watch the penguins watching the monkeys watching the penguins, and some of the monkeys decided to watch the monkeys watching the penguins watching the monkeys watching the penguins. After that, it was too confusing trying to figure out who was watching whom and why. As the penguins waddled away from the monkey cage, the monkeys waddled away from the penguins.
We saw polar bears – the penguins were confused as to how anything so large could live in such a white environment; the polar bears ignored the penguins as if they didn’t exist.
By the time we made it to the aviary, some penguins had balloons, some had cotton candy, and a couple had two scoops of ice cream on a sugar cone. Of course the one penguin was still wearing the cap we had purchased on first entering the zoo.
The birds flying all around the penguins just seemed to incite a longing in my poor black and white friends. They began sliding down the cement sidewalks, squawking at their feathered friends in the air, and just seemed to be doing their best to imitate flight without the benefit of being able to do much more than waddle and slide. Even when we left the aviary, they were still squawking and flapping their wings and sliding around.
The next day, I handed the penguins sunglasses and loaded them up into the pick-up again. Pulling out onto Main Street, red and blue lights flashed me from behind.
The officer stepped up to the side of my pick-up. “I thought I told you yesterday that you can’t drive around with penguins in the back of your pick-up.” The orange of the penguins’ beaks flashed as they nodded their agreement with the officer’s statement.
“Yes, officer, you did, but I am not just driving around with penguins in the back of my pick-up. They had so much fun at the zoo yesterday that I am taking them to the beach today.”
Adopt a penguin!