Unleashed | Out of the office and into the penguin enclosure

Shovelling zebra dung is not ?something most people would pay to do. However, my wife (with my best interests at heart) paid a considerable sum to London Zoo so that I could be a zoo keeper for the day. The thinking being that last year I had only taken about seven days holiday and this year was another where ?I was spending simply too much time in ?the office.

Knowing me rather well (she is my wife) she knew that I would never be able to resist a day out at the zoo, and, while Cosmo was strictly banned, there were many other creatures to keep me entertained. Such as the giant anteater who gets his very long nose extremely dirty and has to have it cleaned after feeding, and the meerkats who have to be fed live cockroaches to keep them interested in their food. Plunging one’s hand into a seething bucket of cockroaches is rather scary (but on balance perhaps not as scary as my impending LEXCEL audit?) but in the context of a wonderful day not something I shirked from.

The day started with our intrepid group being made to sign the rather interesting disclaimer. I debated about heading it ‘without prejudice’ but decided to keep my status as a lawyer quiet for fear of being put in close proximity with the lions. ?Then much mucking out, slicing of vegetables for the animals and feeding a huge variety of them, including to my surprise an upfront encounter with two very hungry looking Sumatran tigers. The keeper in charge of us humans said that the vast majority of accidents involved participants slicing fingers while cutting up vegetables. While coy about ‘animal accidents’ he admitted that they were no longer introducing us to venomous snakes or large spiders.
Getting out of the office is of course what it’s all about. It’s easy to ignore the need for a holiday. But without holidays and without a break you soon go crazy, lose your ?sense of perspective and are probably ?no good to the client. How much ?holiday should we be taking? Difficult ?question and there is probably no right answer but I know that last year I took far too little holiday and felt much too tired come Christmas.

Some Scandinavian firms give their staff a three-month sabbatical after they have been with the firm for ten years. I have seen staff close to burnout and given them a sabbatical which reenergises them. There is little legislation about this very important work-life balance issue. Perhaps there should be a great deal more guidance. Maybe lawyers should have their own version of a tachograph and be prevented from working too many hours?

Anyway, back to my day at the zoo. After an hour or two of dung sweeping we were placed in with the penguins who have very sharp beaks. We were told that their pecks would hurt but we were not in problematic territory unless they could get close to our eyes, which apparently they find attractive… Then onto the spider monkeys who had a real fascination with our watches holding onto our arms so they could listen to the tick-tock of the mechanism. Their fascination with time reminded me of several lawyers I know!

The day ended with us being put in a large enclosure full of lemurs. We were told they were fairly safe but not to make too many sudden movements as they had extremely sharp claws which could “tear an artery”! I wondered about the disclaimer I had signed and whether I should have. Was I insured for any of this?

I lived to tell the tale. More importantly, I had a day out of the office. I am better for that and so will be the clients.