Taking Grey To Work

[JeffNOK]

I teach English to adult international students at a small language institute. When I get my grey, I was thinking about taking it to class with me. The classes are small (4-12 students) and the learners are adults (hopefully they would not be too distracted by the bird). Since I will be a new grey parront, I wondered what you more experienced people thought of this. Also, since I will be getting a young bird (4-5 months old), about how long should I wait before introducing him to a school environment if I do indeed decide to do this.

[MarcusCAG]

Perhaps this sounds weird, but what honestly first popped into my head when I read your post, aside from rogue germs (?) that could possibly harm a young parrot is--I have bumped into more people than I ever would have expected who have some form of ornithophobia. I am absolutely not kidding about this. Maybe, if everything else checks out, before you bring in your grey to your classes you'd want to make sure none of your students are deathly afraid of birds, or it could be bad for everyone involved.

[JeffNOK]

That's certainly a good point. I will check with students before I bring the bird in. He would be in a cage during the class time, so hopefully no one would feel threatened. We had a young woman student some years ago that was deathly afraid of frogs. Even a picture of a frog made her freak out and become ill--so you never know. I guess I just wanted to expose my bird to as many people and places as possible while young. I teach from 9am to 3Pm every day with an hour for lunch (I live a mile from work, so could go home at lunch) and I thought being with me and around people would be good for socialization and prevent boredom.

[MarcusCAG]

Well, I know in the book Conversations with Cosmo, the author says she brings her grey Cosmo into school with her sometimes (she's a professor of some sort). So it has been done before, but I honestly just thought of the people I've met who told me they're scared of pictures of my parrots and et cetera, so... I just wanted to throw out the thought. But it would probably be very nice to be able to socialize your grey that way, if everything else is 'cool' with the situation.

[danmcq]

The more outtings and socializing you do with your grey, the better. If the school and students are ok with it, I would take him/her. As Marcus mentioned, their are a few teachers such as Cosmo Talks author that do indeed regularly take their greys to class with them.

[rbpittman]

Of all the people I've encountered in talking about my birds (10 of them) the bigggest question that is asked is "do they talk" and of all of them, there has only been one who has an aversion to birds - and she's owned by her husband's U2 "Lulu" who is insanely jealous. I've yet to have anyone tell me they were afraid of birds though. Guess I live in a bird friendly place.

 

Socialization is very important, Beau loves to go out and meet people, as long as they respect him, they are cool, he respects them. He's often a "boy scout" when we go camping or just to meetings.

 

Robin

[birdhouse]

My grey has baggage & doesn't travel or socialize. But I'm a returning student & have taken my ekkie to school. I think the important thing wasn't her age when I started (about 1 yo) so much as she'd gotten comfortable traveling & had been introduced to people in some different settings.

 

The first time, I took her with me to do homework on a Saturday & could leave any time. We settled into a empty corner. No one seemed to notice. Since she was in a new place, Kura watched the colors on the computer screens & played quietly. In a few minutes I was working away much like we were at home.

 

After a good while, someone drifted by close enough to see Kura. I was facing the wall & the room still seemed silent, but I could just feel it.

 

My biggest concern was that we not become a distraction. So I decided it might be time to take a break. I took her out in the lounge & eventually the lab pretty much emptied. Then some random students just came by. Then some other people who had "heard about the bird" joined us.

 

I was a little concerned because Kura had never seen a group nearly this large. To my utter surprise, no one had ever been near a parrot. I remember thinking it was just like first grade show & tell only bigger words & people. I also remember being amazed that Kura had no fear; just curiosity.

 

Finally, I let someone I could tell really wanted to, hold her. I asked Kura if she wanted to go & she just went. She charmed the socks of the woman, then casually asked to come back. She stayed with me for a few more questions & went on to her next new admirer. It went like that for maybe half an hour. Boy, did we make new friends on the playground that day!! It was a great experience for everyone.

 

Maybe we've been fortunate in that we've never come across anyone who is totally freak by birds. But taking Kura places has all been pretty much positive. Being able to take her to school when I feel like I'm living there, is a huge plus.

 

The one difficulty is if she wants to join the discussion. Occasionally, we need to go to the ladies room because it's the only place she can't be heard down the halls. LOL Better when it's nice enough to go outside. Usually though, everyone gets a good laugh & I just drop the towel over her carrier for a couple of minutes or hand her a distraction.

 

Taking a fid to work/school has to be limited by the individual bird's temperament & your coworkers'/teachers'/students' sense of humor & tolerance. Kura is, in general, a quiet bird which counts for a lot here. School outings for us work well as a few hours in the afternoon so she doesn't get caught up in the morning frenzy. I go get her, then have lunch with her at school. She gets some individual attention, acclimated & settled in for afternoon classes. It's worked well for us & she really seems to enjoy it.