Back Story: A little over ten years ago I put in an application at the San Diego Zoo. It was my childhood dream to work there and I was an 18 year old applying for a job at gift shops to get my foot in the door. Immediately after the interview I was wondering around the zoo and I saw Jack Hanna filming for a TV show in front of an exhibit. Being the fan, I waited for the interview to be done and then I went up to him and told him that "I loved your work." He was very gracious and asked me what I was doing? I told him I just interviewed for a position at the zoo, but it was nothing fancy, just the gift shops. He responded, "There is nothing wrong with that! The president at the ______ zoo actually started out selling popcorn in the entrance. If you work hard you will get there."
From that moment on, I always had great respect for that man. He was a person that was known all over the world, spoke on numerous tv shows, and he took a single moment to be kind and encourage "a nobody" who had a dream. I thought to myself that is just incredible!
Well, that brings us to dinner tonight. Knowing this story, the Brindley Family was so wonderful to invite us to dinner.
It was so much fun and just felt like a big family dinner. Of course, I had to tell Jack my story of how kind he was to me at our first meeting. He responded by saying, "It's really not that hard to be kind to people." You see, he doesn't put on a celebrity persona, he really is that caring person! It was fantastic to just spend time with a great family and a great guy. He told stories and was just fun to be around! He has a great heart not only for animals for for people all over the world, especially in Rwanda. It was just a fantastic night and we will never forget it.
3 comments:
That is SOOO cool!! Yeah for you! It's nice to know that he really is the nice guy that he looks to be when you see him on TV. Super Fun!!
are you and ian holding emmy's?
and i'm glad he's really nice. you'd hope people who love animals would love humanity as well.
fascinating about his care for rwanda.
Good eye Mindi! Yes, we are holding real emmy statues but they don't belong to anyone in the picture. We just wanted to hold them and pretend we won them.
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