A difficult conversation with Stacey's parents

Stacey was lying on her bed, despite the short amount of time she’d slept that night, sleep would not find her. She decided to go downstairs and grab something to eat. She walked downstairs and opened the fridge to see if there was anything that could act as a quick snack. Not really finding anything she closed the fridge again, wondering what else there was that she could eat.

As she closed the fridge, suddenly she saw her father standing in the kitchen.

“Hi Stacey”, he said.

“Oh hey dad”

“You’re home early?”, clearly expecting some kind of explanation as to why she was home so early.

“Uhm, yeah. It’s a bit of a story actually”, Stacey said. She had not prepared herself for this conversation and wasn’t really ready for it. Not sure if or how she could still escape from this conversation. Realizing that she was going to have to tell her parents some time this week anyways, she figured now may be a good time as any.

“I’m listening”, her father said, sounding genuinely interested.

“Well, I’m going to get a bit of a different role at the zoo”

As she said that her mom also appeared in the kitchen.

“Oh hi honey, you’re home already. Is everything okay?”

“Oh hi mom, yes everything is fine. I was just telling dad… ”, when her father interrupted her.

“Let’s move to the couch. Stacey was about to tell a bit of a story, we might as well sit down I guess”. As he said so, the three of them moved to the couch, “so Stacey, what did you want to tell us?”

“Well, as I already told dad, I’m getting a bit of a different role at the zoo”, Stacey paused for a moment to see if her parents wanted to interject, but they kept on listening. “As you may know, many zookeepers have been saying for quite some time that there should be a human exhibit. An exhibit that displays humans. You could say it was by accident that we got such an exhibit for the weekend on a provisional basis, and now it’s been decided to make it a permanent one. You could say I have a key role in moving that process forward.”

“Oh congratulations honey! It’s always nice to get promoted, I’m so happy for you!”, her mother exclaimed.

“But, getting promoted doesn’t explain why you’re home so early, now does it?”, her father said. Listening curiously and thinking that maybe there was an aspect to her story that he wasn’t getting yet.

“Well, I wouldn’t describe it as a promotion. It’s just a different role. You see, at the zoo there was a volunteer the past weekend. She is willing to fulfill the role full time, but management wanted to have at least two people in the exhibit. And when they asked if I was willing to be that person I said yes. It seems like fun to watch all those people walk by and entertain them.”

“Oh honey that sounds fabulous! You go from shoveling manure all day long to entertaining the patrons”, Stacey’s mom said, “if that’s something that you like to do I’m just really happy for you!”

Stacey’s dad was wondering if there was something he was missing. Of course it sounded great, going from a zookeeper to an entertainer, but he couldn’t shake off the feeling that there was something he was still missing. He had heard something on the news about a new exhibit at the zoo, but he hadn’t really paid it much attention. He now wished he had.

“Stacey, is there anything else we should know about this new position?”, he asked. He didn’t want to sound like he was really skeptical or not believing her, but at the same time still wanted to be sure if he fully understood what this story was really about.

Stacey wasn’t sure what else to say. There were plenty of things to tell them that they didn’t know yet. But was this really the best time to tell them? And if it was, how could she tell them? Stacey suddenly felt like this conversation should have never happened and didn’t know what to say.

Her parents sensed that there was maybe more coming, and simply waited patiently until Stacey continued.

“Well,” Stacey continued eventually, “the position comes with room and board. And so I know you guys have been wanting for me to move out sometime, and so now that’s finally going to come true!”

Stacey knew this was only a half-truth. Her parents had brought up the subject of moving out once or twice, but she also knew that they weren’t really anxious or **** for her to move out.

“Oh honey, you’re moving out?! That’s so nice for you! But I am really going to miss you…”, her mom said, “…I hope we can still visit a lot?!”

“Sure mom, you can visit me anytime!”, Stacey smiled at her remark. They could visit for sure, but probably not in the way her mom had understood.

“I’m glad for you that you found a place of your own, Stacey. But why does this job come with room and board?”, her father asked.

“Well, you could say that it’s a 24/7 engagement, dad”

“But isn’t that silly? The zoo isn’t even open 24/7, and there’s labor laws and all that, that prohibit you from working too much”, her dad replied.

Stacey wasn’t sure about the labor laws thing, but that was just a detail that she was sure would be worked out by the CEO.

“Well, zoo exhibits typically don’t leave the zoo at all. If they did, most people would consider that to be a problem”, she said with a half smile. She had wanted to make a little joke, but was afraid her parents had interpreted it as her trying to sound smart.

Either way, suddenly it clicked for both her mom and dad.

“You’re going to be a zoo animal?!”, they said almost simultaneously.

“Sort of. Though I won’t become a real animal, of course. I’ll just pretend to be one for a while”

The realization slowly sunk in for both her parents what this conversation was really about.

“So, do I understand correctly,” her father asked, “that the thing about the ‘role’, the ‘position’ and the ‘24/7 engagement’ was basically just you sugar coating the fact that for the foreseeable future you’ll be acting like some dumb zoo animal?”

“Yes, dad”, Stacey said meekly. Glad that she no longer had to beat around the bush, but that she could finally be open and honest to them. Except for the nudity thing, Stacey thought. But surely they would find out some time, eventually.

Clearly, Stacey’s mom and dad were both somewhat dumbfounded, but at least her mom tried to brighten the mood a little bit; “So what kind of costumes will you be wearing? I take it these will probably be very expensive?”

Damn it, Stacey thought. That was fast…

“Mom, how many times have you seen a zoo animal wearing a costume?”, Stacey replied. She couldn’t get it across her lips that she was going nude, so she opted to go with a rhetorical question instead.

“She means she’s going nude, am I right Stacey?”, her dad concluded.

Stacey simply nodded.

Her mom moved her hands to her mouth, gasping for air. Not knowing what to say.

“My beautiful daughter, monkeying around in a filthy zoo cage, naked!”, she ended up saying. Somewhat hoping that she’d be corrected and that she’d misunderstood.

“Yes…”, was all Stacey could murmur.

It was silent for a while. It seemed like hours, even though it was probably only 30 seconds or so. Stacey, her mom and her dad all deeply sunken in thought.

Eventually her father broke the silence; “Well, I don’t like it and I cannot even fathom how something like this is legal. There must be some law against it. I will call your boss tomorrow and tell him whatever game they’re playing is off and that they must find someone else for this ‘role’”, he said while making air quotes.

“You will do no such thing!”, Stacey yelled, 100% surprised by the powerful statement she made while going against one of her parents, she had probably never done such a thing before, “I’m an adult now and I can make my own adult choices. If you don’t agree with them that’s fine, but that doesn’t mean I need to renege on them”.

Stacey also thought of Bridget. This was her one opportunity of being with Bridget long time while finally getting a chance to let loose and become independent, at least from her parents. She could not let this chance go to waste simply because her parents had to grow accustomed to the idea.

“Fair enough, “ her father said, “it’s true that we’ve always tried to raise you to be an independent adult who can make her own decisions, even if we don’t agree with them. It’s just that we’re trying to look out for you honey. Can I at least call your boss tomorrow to simply inquire some more details about it, and try to figure out if they at least will try to take good care of you?”

“Sure, thanks dad”, Stacey said. She was already happy that her parents seemed somewhat onboard with this idea, and weren’t going to disinherit her on the spot, or something like that.

“Oh, and you’re telling your little brother and sister during dinner. And no beating around the bush this time!”, her dad added.

Stacey nodded once more, and with that their conversation had seemingly ended. Stacey went upstairs and retired to bed. Suddenly, falling asleep was no longer a problem...