The Saddest US Government Shutdown Photo

"The Zoo is temporarily closed," said the sign.

Redditor superbonnie shared this photo of a young child all wearing a bear costume looking longingly at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, D.C., which was temporarily closed because of the US government shutdown. The gates to the zoo were locked and the kid was left outside looking in.

Since it was posted a day ago, the image has gone viral and has become the unofficial mascot of the frustration over the government shutdown. Some people were suggesting that the photo was staged (there was no background story attached to the photo, and media's requests to the Redditor who posted the photo haven't yielded any additional clues), but the sentiment that the image provided seems to have struck a nerve amongst many.

The National Zoo wrote on their website:

Due to the federal government shutdown, the Smithsonian's National Zoo is closed to the public. All programming and events are canceled. All vehicle, pedestrian, and bicycle paths into the Zoo are closed. None of our live animal cams are being broadcast.
All the animals will continue to be fed and cared for. A shutdown does not affect our commitment to the safety of our staff and standard of excellence in animal care.

Meanwhile, the circus that is the US Government shutdown continues and the Shutdown photo meme has started.

Photo via @Daily Caller

That is heart breaking!

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The president is picking and choosing what to close for maximum pain to the American Public. Instead of actually going with non-essential employees (and risk the chance we realize the USA does fine w/o them), his administration picks stuff like the National Mall and zoos.

If that's the kind of leader one wishes to support, well... umm... err... uhh... good luck with that; I'm sure it'll have a happy ending.

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11 replies

Shutting down the Government because of disagreement to the ACA is cowardly. The ACA passed both chambers of Congress, was signed by the President, and was upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States of America. It is the law of the land. If you don't like it, fine but don't pretend like everyone hates it and that somehow it was a trick to the American People.

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It is so nice to know that Congress has voted to pay each furloughed employee as if they had worked during this period of inactivity.

When I don't work, I don't get paid.

It stinks. We are not being served by our public servants.

Time to start firing the non essential public employee?