A zoo librarian took a call one day from a woman who was obviously upset about something but seemed to be a little embarrassed to talk about it. The woman hemmed and hawed for a while and then blurted out that one of the polar bears was “having its period.” The librarian calmly asked her how she knew this, and the woman replied that she had seen them mating. She said that it was disgusting and that the zoo should do something about it, such as locking them up when they were going to mate.
The librarian explained to her that they had no way of knowing exactly when that might occur and the woman said that in that case the zoo should turn the bears loose in the forest preserve. The librarian, now realizing the sort of person she was dealing with, asked the woman if she really thought that it would be a good idea to turn mating polar bears loose in the forest preserve.
The woman responded that something had to be done as her children had seen it and she was appalled. The librarian tried to explain that it was a perfectly natural occurrence, and that perhaps she could use it as a learning example for the children. She also added, a little sarcastically, that people did “it” as well.
“Well,” the woman replied rather huffily, “not on the center mall at the zoo!”
The librarian, her patience at an end, replied, “Obviously, you have never been here on a crowded Sunday,” and hung up.