Receptionist April Pascu answered the phone.
“Mr. Bear? He’s very popular today. But this is the Akron Zoo and it’s April Fools’ Day. Someone pulled a prank on you. Find out who did it and get even,” she told the caller.
“You know what they say about paybacks,” the older gentleman said.
“Yes, I do,” Pascu said. “Get ’em good, sir.”
In case you missed it, Tuesday was April Fools’ Day and zoos across the nation often field calls from suckers who fall prey to mischievous rascals.
Pascu knows the routine. She has been answering the phone for 14 years and realizes that the callers, none of whom are children, are reading messages from family and co-workers instructing them to call Mr. Baer or Mr. Lyons.
Wearing a tie with an image of the Three Stooges, Pascu was perched inside her cubicle on the busiest day this year for the zoo. With each person who asked to speak to an animal, she laughed aloud with them.
“It could be somebody’s worst day of the year and she makes it fun,” explained zoo spokesman David Barnhardt.
Generally, people don’t get angry, though some have insisted that their call is no joke and that they should be forwarded to Mrs. Swan, Anna Conda or Miss Ellie Fant.
Misters Lion or Bear typically receive the most calls. This year, the zoo received 30 calls for Mr. or Dr. Lion, 16 for Mr. Bear, four for Mr. Fox, and one each for Mrs. Swan and Mr. Wolf. Those numbers are only from callers who actually reached the receptionist after listening to a recorded message that welcomes folks to the Akron Zoo phone system. Otherwise, Pascu would be busy answering dozens more.
For instance, Kimberly Henderson tricked six people into making calls; only two stuck it out long enough to get a receptionist. Most times, folks hang up when the recording plays, but not Bryan Buchanan, a salesman at VanDevere Chevrolet in Akron.
“Is Mr. Lyons in?” he asked.
“I don’t know if he is here right now,” joked Ashley Hendrix, who was operating the phones during Pascu’s lunch hour. “It is April Fools’ Day.”
Buchanan insisted that his “so-called good friend” wouldn’t prank him. But Henderson convinced him that a friend of her father’s was looking for a car and the salesman jumped on the phone.
“I will repay her,” he vowed.
Overhearing the conversation, spokesman Barnhardt suggested that Buchanan sponsor a cockroach in his friend’s name through the Akron Zoo’s Care for a Critter program, which helps provide food and medical help for animals.
Buchanan loved the idea. An hour later, Barnhardt personally delivered an official sponsorship certificate and a photo of a cockroach to Henderson, who works as a finance assistant at another VanDevere dealership.
Just in case you are tempted to leave a message for a friend or colleague today to call the zoo, there are two things to remember. The first is — it’s no longer April Fools’ Day. And, second — while the folks at the zoo secretly get a kick out of the calls, they don’t promote the practice. So, no monkey business. Besides, the receptionist has far more to do than screen calls for Ted E. Bear.
Kim Hone-McMahan can be reached at 330-996-3742 or kmcmahan@thebeaconjournal.com.