MONKEYS
Simple things amuse me. The most fun I ever have sitting at my desk is with a pink plastic fist and launcher I bought at Jillian's for 10 tickets. The fun I've had with this 10¢ piece of plastic makes it well worth the cold hard cash I poured into the Skee-Ball machines. Squeeze the black launcher and you're rewarded with a satisfying "Pop!" and a pink fist soaring through the air; a perfect arc every time.... damn that's great. If you're going to enjoy life, you have to take advantage of the little things, because sometimes, that's all you have.
It all began with some monkeys. With only a few short weeks left in my summer vacation between elementary school and middle school, I had to convince my mother to take me to the zoo. The "Monkeys of World" exhibit would be closing a few days before school started, and I had to see the rare black-chested moustached tamarin. I just had to.
A week went by. I had dropped subtle hints for my mother to pick up on, like leaving a flyer or two for the zoo exhibit around the house, or mentioning my undying love for monkeys, or the 7 foot wall poster I hung on the refrigerator with every known species of monkey in the world on it, from the buffy tufted-ear marmoset, to the golden-rumped lion tamarin, to the grey-cheeked mangabey to the...:: ahem:: Sorry, monkeys still get me excited.
After a week or two of dropping these low-key tip-offs, my mother caught on with brilliant accuracy. It might've been my discreet reaction to a commercial for the zoo exhibit...
"MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU NEED TO SEE THIS!! OH MY GOD I WANT TO SEE THOSE MONKEYS!!!! SWEET FANCY MOSES IT'S GOING TO CLOSE IN A FEW DAYS! I NEED TO GO!!!"
But then again, maybe that wall poster worked out better than I thought. Either way, on the last day of the exhibit, we went! What an excited boy I was, all dressed up in monkey garb, ready to enjoy the day to the fullest. It was then though, that things took a turn for the worse.
See, zoos have this policy about their monkeys getting wet. When the worst thunderstorm in 25 years comes rolling right through my area, the zoo needs to pack up all their special or leased animals and keep them out of the public view. And close the park. There I stood, with my monkey hood on, ankle deep in water with my mother at the entrance to the zoo, crying because the guard told me the park was closed, and the monkeys of the world had to be shipped back to their home zoos scattered around the planet. We ended up eating some fast food, and having a delightful discussion, in spite of the day's events. We went home, and that was that. No monkeys, no zoo.
I grew that day. I learned to enjoy the little things in life. The little hairs in my food, the little bathroom stall I relieved everything I'd eaten for the past day and a half... and the little pills I had to take for the food poisoning I got. Last time I ever eat that that MAJOR fast food chain again. It's the little things in life that get me going, and I'll always remember that.
Wasn't that monk-o-licious? I thought so.
...
You should go back now.