I think I’ve said this before, but I’m going to say it again. People do not become wildlife biologists because they like people. Most of us are not extroverted. And most of us find it difficult to communicate, which makes for some fantastically hilarious interactions. I witnessed one such interaction last week.
Several of us were working on some bears. Because we had several bears to monitor, people were spread a bit thin. At one point, I was completely useless (well more than one point). At this particular point, I was fielding questions from the public while a graduate student, who will be named SJ for Snarky Junior, was struggling to roll a bear over. The bear wasn’t big, but the help of one person would’ve made SJ’s life a lot easier. Coincidentally, someone, who will now be referred to as “Huh?” was available to help. Huh? was in fact standing next to the bear and chatting at SJ. Yet Huh? did not lift a finger to help. She just kept talking.
With arms wrapped around the sleeping bear, SJ said to Huh? “You could help, if you wanted to.”
I laughed out loud because although SJ words weren’t mean, her tone was that of a professional Snark. She was pissed.
Even funnier was that Huh? just kept chatting.
So like the true professional I am, I stopped my conversation with the public and said to Huh, “Or even if you didn’t want to, you could.”
