While most of my regular days involve visiting hotels for their yearly inspections then dining at a local restaurant, affording me somewhat of a routine, there is the odd day here or there that I get the opportunity to do and see something truly amazing and out of the ordinary.  I was lucky enough to have one of these experiences recently.

As another duty in my position as a AAA Inspector, I get the opportunity to visit and evaluate attractions. In the past, these attractions have ranged from civil war museums, nature centers and Segway experiences to wineries, auto museums and an inside look at Kauffman Stadium.  This week I was in the Springfield, Missouri, area and was tasked with evaluating Dickerson Park Zoo. 

I strapped on my comfortable shoes, and off I went.  At first, looking through the zoo was interesting enough, as they did a great job of providing information about the animals, their origins and other interesting facts.  The walkways were clean, the employees that I saw were friendly and water stations were all around. This seemed like a very nice listing to benefit our members. 

As it was a record high heat day, some of the animals were inside or under cover, so I caught glimpses of them rather than actually observing them. While this was slightly disappointing, I understood why they would be hiding in the shade. I even took a couple trips into the air conditioned reptile building to escape the heat myself. 

I was very excited to see the giraffes because at this particular zoo they are friendly enough to actually eat crackers right from your hand. I knew I wanted to do that.  How many people can say they have fed a giraffe? 

As I made my way to the “Africa” section of the zoo, I paused to note a large playground for children and the central concession area.  One of the staff members who was passing by stopped me and asked if I had heard about the giraffe.  After a confused moment, I said I hadn’t but was heading that way in just a moment. I asked if something was wrong.  He immediately told me, “No, nothing is wrong. A moment ago one of them gave birth!”  Well, that had not been what I was expecting!  Wow, I picked a good day to do this inspection!

I immediately headed to the giraffe exhibit.  I was struck with how close you could be to the animals and then noticed a grouping of three giraffes all with their heads down over what looked like a sack on the ground.  Apparently the baby giraffe, known as a calf, was born right there in the open.  Some of the zoo personnel were around, answering questions and snapping photos. 

We were told that the calf would be up and walking within a half-hour to 45 minutes.  I could not miss this opportunity to see the beginnings of this young one’s life.  I moved to the observation deck, which was within about 20 feet of the newborn and the mother.  After about 10 minutes, the newborn was moving around enough that a gender was determined- a boy! He is the zoo's second boy, and he will live with their three females.

We all waited while he worked himself free of the tangle of limbs around him and got his bearings. Then, we watched his mother clean him up and try to nudge him into standing.  He took a few stumbles at first but after being in the world for just short of 40 minutes, he stood all on his own! 

While I did not feed any giraffes that day, I did get to see the beginning moments of one’s life and cheered him on while he was first standing.  I have been told that the number one rule to my job was to “have fun.” On most days I do have fun, although I must say this one blew most days out of the water!