As the owner of a 2.5 year old Congo African Grey parrot, I recently had a rather weird experience when I was on my way to bring her to the pet store where I'd purchased her 2.5 years ago, when she was a baby, so that the owner of the pet store could take Aziza (my parrot) to her house to be boarded for afew days, while I had some minor elbow surgery at a Boston hospital, and then stayed with my family for afew days to start the recuperation process. I stopped at a self-service gas station on the way to purchase some gasoline for the trip. Since it was kind of a hot, sultry, humid summer's day, I did not want to leave Aziza in the car, for fear she'd overheat, so I brought her (in her carrier, of course), inside, while I paid for my tank of gas.

As I was leaving, I was approached by a young, good-looking caucasian (white), although very tanned, young guy, with many tattoos on him. He began asking me questions about my pet Congo African Grey Parrot, Aziza, and then told me that he took care of exotic birds, such as macaws, cockatoos, etc. Then, he asked me a question that, while somehow I hoped he wouldn't ask, kind of knew, in the back of my mind that he would; the guy asked me if I would sell Aziza to him. My answer was a prompt "No!", and I quickly retreated to my car.

I'm glad that things didn't get any worse than that, although I have a feeling that there's a possible potential for a nastier situation to have developed, if one gets the drift. I