Lori Jakiela: The mother who did not make sweet memories

The woman at Hershey Park Zoo wants her son to see the bobcat nestled overhead in its cage. “For Christ’s sake, Bobby,” she says. “Move it. The world’s not going to move for you.”

Bobby looks sweet and clueless, blonde in a dinosaur t-shirt. He’s distracted by something on the ground. An ant, I think. He’s crouched down trying to feed whatever it is a kernel of popcorn.

“Oh for Christ’s sake,” the woman says again, and huffs over to grab him by the arm and drag him back.

The bobcat keeps sleeping

I get it. The woman wants to show her son something exotic, a once-in-a-lifetime thing maybe, but the bobcat goes on sleeping, no sound even, and, ferocious or not, Bobby is not impressed. He tosses a few more popcorn kernels like he’s leaving a trail. He examines a popcorn kernel like he migh