The Incident of the Chicken in the Office

So yesterday afternoon, I heard a driver walk in and say – “Traffic is backing up because a chicken is crossing the road.”  I assumed he was being facetious about the way idiots drive in weather.  It had been raining all day.  For days.

But as it turns out.  Nope.  A chicken literally crossed the road and began wandering around our parking lot.   Across the road is an empty White Castle building and a check cashing place.  Behind them is a shopping plaza.  Yeah – who knows where the chicken came from.   Someone suggested that some homeless people were keeping chickens in the scrabble behind the check cashing place.  Seems… unlikely?  But then again a chicken had crossed the road.

We are a transportation company, so it’s not a good place for chickens.  At least not ones that wish to maintain their healthy well being. But this chicken would not be caught.  Several people chased it to much comic effect, but no one caught it.  Chickens are smarter than city people is my takeaway from that.

So, as we had work to do, we left the chicken to it’s own devices.  Or I did.  The rest of the office was on full chicken alert.  Calls were made, plans were devised, various people with “chicken experience” were consulted.  Meanwhile the chicken made itself at home by hopping on a window sill to roost. 

After much debate, animal control was called but they wanted money to pick up a chicken.  I was pretty sure the boss would pay for it, so I went in to tell her about the chicken.  I think other than watching a chicken chase around a bunch of young men, that was my favorite part of the chicken incident.  She, quite naturally, was incredulous.  We had to walk her out to meet the chicken.

In the meantime, someone remembered that we actually had a coworker who raises chickens.  So the animal control option was dropped.

A dispatcher walked out and caught the chicken with literally NO FUSS.  In complete contrast to the city slickers who ran around the parking lot like a bunch of idiots.  Spending as much time being chased as chasing the chicken.

Someone who lives a few blocks away had gone home and gotten a pet cage.  We put the chicken the pet cage with bird seed and water.  A Bus Driver who raises chickens was going to take the chicken home to add to her flock.  And then sadly all the chicken chaos was over.