The Hansen's Adventures...

Hogle Zoo...the CLEANEST show on earth

Two weekends ago we traveled to Salt Lake City to visit Grandma and Grandpa Hansen. We had a fun and relaxing visit.

One of the days we went to the SLC Zoo, Hogle Zoo. It was the cleanest, nicest, best animal zoo I have ever been to. The most amazing exhibit was where the Elephants lived. I asked if I could move in with them...still waiting to hear back. They looked so happy...well as much as I could tell.

The cat habitat was also very impressive. We also got to see a Great Ape, camels, alligators, penguins, bears...you know the usually suspects.

After the zoo we went to McDonald's because Noah was not eating very much and I can pretty much bet that he will usually nibble on a McNugget. I helped this little old man with his trash and then helped him with the door. He ended up talking to me for a really long time.

He asked me if I read the bible. Uhhh...not really, but I do believe in god...I just don't have time to read anything but other peoples blogs and iVillage. I know…priorities. Anyway, he told me that I was blessed because I was helping the poor...him. I told him that he was not poor because he drove a Caddy...He thought that was funny, but I think he meant more that he was not able to move very well and was poor in that regard.

Okay, so the most interesting aspect of our conversation was that he told me a story about when he was a young boy he delivered papers to an old man who was 83 years old. He thought "Wow, that is so old!" Now this little paperboy is 87 years old! He seemed a bit amazed that he had made it that far.

I don't know what message I am trying to convey to you today except that this little old man seemed a bit lonely and in the state that makes family the number one priority. I am sure he has many family members that he sees on a regular basis, but it seems that day I was able to make him feel a little less alone in this big ol' world.

He ended up telling me that he went on his mission in Brazil for three years and also spoke Portuguese. This entire conversation took about 5 minutes max.

I remember when I first asked him if I could help him with his tray a group of high school girls looked at me to see what I was doing. In hindsight I hope that the realized that everyone needs a helping hand at times and that it is okay to think of someone other than themselves.

Try it someday…give someone a little extra help. You might be surprised at what you can learn from a perfect stranger

posted by The Hansens not in Germany @ 1:59 PM