Day at work

[born2fly]

I recently took WALL-E to work (his second time) he enjoyed all the attention he was getting, although he was not too happy about the harness I guess because I haven't put it on him since the summer.

I only brought him in because some coworkers have been asking me for awhile to bring him in. Well the news spread like wild fire and I had people constantly coming over to have a look. Few got bit but only because they stuck their finger before I had a chance to explain how to handle him.
I was asked multiple times if he talks and when I answered no the replay was "Ohhhh?" and interest diminished. Few people couldn't wrap their head around the fact that I brought a bird to the office.

It went something like this "A bird, why would you bring a bird in? Why? on and on
And my favourite "Why is it on a leash, that's so weird"

Anyone else brought their feather friends to work and got weird looks?

[idlepirate]

Thats awesome that you're allowed to take a pet to work, what did management say?
Was he in a flightsuit or just a harness? im still struggling to get my aviator onto Lorenzo, suuuuch a mission
That would never happen back when I worked in an office here in the UK, theyd be too strict and say it will distract people from their work.
Maybe Id have been able to do that in switzerland where i worked as pretty much anything went on in there anyway.

[born2fly]

Normally I wouldn't be able to take him but it was just before new years and no management in sight so I took a chance.

He wears a harness and believe me it was a challenge to get him used to it. I think he only tolerates it because he know he'll go outside.

[GlassOnion]

It actually kind of pisses me off that so many people's interest in parrots revolve solely on their speaking ability. I mean.. who really gives a **** if they can talk or not? We talk, it's not a huuuge deal. I mean, there is soo much more to owning a bird, and I just don't understand the whole 'talking' deal. It's nice if your parrot can talk, but too many people only care about that.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I will probably bring my birds into the office one day, if for no other reason than to get them away from something noxious going on at home. It would be no big deal. The manager of the institute occasionally has his dog sleeping under his office table around lunch time.

Look, the talking thing is key to some people, I think because it emphasizes how uniquely their brains work. I big to differ, but the fact that we talk IS a big deal. Irene Pepperberg started out to study speech in parrots precisely because it offers a window into their thought processes. From a behavioral standpoint, the fact that they can and do is very important. But no individual bird will necessarily speak to us, although communication by sound is pretty unavoidable. So, no, a person should not get into parrots as pets only because they talk. But IMO it is natural for those who don't know a lot about them to be fascinated by it and to hope to witness it firsthand. It is up to us to help them understand what other wonderful properties they possess. Most people don't think of birds as touchable, soft or affectionate, for example.

[captwest]

Very well put entranced,

[GlassOnion]

Towards my little anger there, it was more so directed at people buy parrots just for talking without much research or thought, and end up neglecting animals or rehome them. (Not that the OP's story was about that, but I was reminded of it)

[Red Moppet]

I've brought my budgie to work at my high school on occasion with mixed reviews. Students will either stop and look and tell me they hate birds or they will come up to the cage and ask a lot of questions and tell me they think birds are pretty cool. I tell my classes to respect his space and not crowd around or wave their arms or poke their fingers through the bars but unfortunately some students don't listen. I even caught one student trying to feed Sputnik and that's the number one reason why I'm leery about bringing him again - I would hate for him to be fed something dangerous. Otherwise his tweets and twitters (not the ones you do on your iphone) made for a lovely environment and I think it added some variety to his day.