The Animal Drive Thru

Excerpt from a late night phone conversation with my close friend, Mark, the gay teacher:
(excerpt begins mid-way through the conversation with Mark speaking first, then back and forth)---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I really want you to meet my two friends, R and S" [two married doctors who are good friends with Mark].
"I know, I definitely want to meet them. You've talked about them for so long."
"Well, we have this day trip planned that you could come on. We're going to take their kids to Great Adventure, only we're just going to the animal drive thru because R and S don't like amusement parks but they're not assholes -- they'll let their kids enjoy a safari now and then."
"How would we get there?" [I like driving with Mark]
"We'd take a train to their house and then we'd all load into R and S's van."
"I don't know Mark. It sounds too much like Planes, Trains, and Automobiles..." [a good movie in which multiple modes of transportation become stressful].
"Yeah, I told R I had a special friend I'd like to take, and he said that someone would have to be a pretty good person to put up with the hassle."
"That's nice that you thought of me."
"Actually, you weren't the friend I was referring to...Didn't I tell you about T from the gay church retr-"
"Yeah, yeah, you've told me about T."
"Well, T sometimes longs for a family and kids, so I thought he might enjoy looking at one for a few hours. You know, seeing the kids smile at the animals out the window."
"Yeah, that's thoughtful."
"So, do you wanna go? I didn't get a chance to ask T because he's in SF this week."
"I don't know. If I'm going to go to Great Adventure, I'd like to experience the park, not just the animal drive thru."
"Jennifer, this animal drive thru is nothing to sneeze at. There are male elephants." He chortles with smug pride. "You don't get that at the Bronx Zoo."
"Why not?"
"Because they're elephants, Jennifer. They're hard to handle. The males are aggressive."
"Oh, sorry, I didn't know."
"That's okay."
"I'll think about it, Mark, okay?"
"If not, we could go to the fright show at Halloween or the Christmas light display in December."
"Oh, that might be more up my alley. We could rent a car and go ourselves."
"Actually I meant we'd take the train to R and S's house and drive with them, you know, to keep the kids progressively educated."
Mark pauses in response to my silence and then adds, "Or you and I could rent a car and go ourselves."
"That might be nice."
"Mark, how long is the animal drive thru?"
"It's one hour, and it costs seventeen dollars" [I like to gather info on a plan that I likely know I won't go on but it's nice to keep gathering info. In fact, it's kind of like going].
"Can I get back to you?"
"You can decide right before if you want."
"That sounds good."
"Okay, good night, Jennifer."
"Good night, Mark."