Boss Bird Monitors Labor Operations
“Call me Bob,” said Bob, resting on the stern rail beside me.
“Hello, Bob,” I said, as more seagulls began to gather in the aft wind above us.
“Did you ever wonder how some of the birds follow a ferry boat, like this, while others go after some other boat out on the bay?“
“Well, uh, I suppose I might have,” I lied, glancing sideways at Bob.
“Shape up meeting.“
“Shape up meeting?”
“That’s what I said,” said Bob. “Shape up meeting — every morning. Down at the garbage pier. The Boss Bird shapes up the bird crews, calls out assignments. ‘Listen up! Take your gang of California Gulls and follow the red and white tug.
’Western Gulls follow the blue and gold tour boat’…
and so on…”
“Wait a minute,” I said, “you almost never see a gang of purely California Gulls or one of purely Western Gulls — there’s always some kind of a mix, California, Western, even a Laughing Gull or two…“
“Well,” said Bob, “I didn’t say they always get it right,”
Hmmm. Stands to reason.
Bob continued, “They’re just like us.“
“How do you know?” I asked.
“Come on: How else would you do it?”
Assigned Seagulls Follow Ferry Boat on San Francisco Bay
Attentive Reader: What does Bob look like?
