10:05:34–gate is closed in right of photo
Call it the headline that almost was. My oldest son, a second grader at a small Wisconsin school got to visit the Zor Shrine Circus at the Coliseum. Due to limited space on the bus that was going, his 4k brother, who had earned a ticket through exemplary behavior in his class, could also go but could not ride on the bus. I had asked my uncle Sam if he wanted to go along, and before I knew it the endeavor turned into something even bigger.
10:07:34–notice the door is ajar on the right…
I had childhood memories of going to the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus in Omaha, NE. I was small, maybe 5 or 6 years old. It was by far the neatest thing that ever happened to me as a child. I wanted to share a similar experience with my boys, so I made a point of going along. Little did I know, I would be selected from an audience of thousands and brought to the main ring to act out two skits with this clown:
Reddy the Clown engaged the audience with a whistle; up close, I heard a thick accent
Reddy grew exasperated when the woman he also chose from the crowd wasn’t acting out the skit to his liking and made a big production of putting me in her place.
My boys all ready think I am a Rock Star–this made them certain of it!
He wanted her to play slow-motion tennis with big sound effects.
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- Slow-motion tennis
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- New player
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- That’s me in all black
I was amazed to see photos of this as I handed the camera to my 7 year-old son and he just kept shooting. The circus assistants wore all black so they tended to disappear into the dark auditorium while the act was brightly illuminated with spotlights. I noticed the door was ajar with 3 Bengal tigers and 2 Siberian tigers when one of the assistants raced over to secure it. Funny thing, ignorance: on the one hand we had an arena full of happy, happy, fun, fun, smile, smile, laugh; on the other hand, we had an unsecured gate with 5 tigers mere feet away from being loose among the crowd! Being an ER nurse, it is my job to notice things. I noticed the inconsistencies when people lie to me every single day. I am used to this; so used to this I just brush it off as part of the human condition. An unlocked gate on the tiger arena is a whoop–a HUGE whoop! Snapping photos like paparazzi, the time stamps would reveal the gate closed at 10:05:34 and ajar by 10:07:34–which means it merely came open on its own and was never secure in the first place!
10:09:21–gate still ajar in right of photo, moments later this was secured by staff. Never mind the 5 tigers mere feet away!
I am not sure how many of the thousands at the circus noticed this teensy-weensy gaffe in security. Good thing all five tigers considered the ringmaster with the long whip the alpha male in the group. You can see in the photo above how well-fed the tigers appear to be; the Siberian on the end is too fat to be sassy. The time stamps on my photos reveal a 4 minute span during which that gate is ajar before staff noticed the mistake and ran over to secure it–4 minutes that could have made headlines if the tigers were more alert, less well fed, or less obedient.
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- Start of the show!
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- Viper face paint
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- Clowning around
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- I always liked the elephants
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- Clowns galore
Was a good time had by all? You bet!
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- Karl Gant; Zor Chaplain & family friend
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- The Elvis I knew balanced drugs & alcohol, poorly
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- Interpretive dancers
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- SkyMan–the Zor Shrine SuperHero (all the cool names were taken, apparently)
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- Chicago Boyz–acrobats with energy like toddlers; notice the man sailing overhead, right above yellow hat
Would I go again? Sure. But I will have my eye on that tiger cage from the start!
How does the ringmaster NOT look like dinner?
