My Pet Peeve

13 Comments

“How many monkeys do you see in there?” a young woman asked her two year old at the zoo today.

We were at the Chimp habitat and I could see about 7 of them.

“Zero,” I said to myself in a whisper, “there are no monkeys in there.”

 

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Mishindi and his mother, Ramona

 

13 thoughts on “My Pet Peeve”

    • andreathompson2

      That’s it, my dear friend Ann. Monkeys and Apes are all primates but Monkeys and Apes are different all together. There are five great apes, the Gorillas, the Chimpanzees, the Orangutans, the Bonobos and humans. There are also two “lesser” Apes (sad name) the Gibbons and the Siamangs. (Only named that because they are smaller and not quite as genius as the big ones!) There are hundreds of species of monkeys. They are all called primates but Monkeys have tails and Apes do not. That’s why I hate when people call Chimps or Gorillas monkeys. They are not monkeys. They are Apes. Apes don’t have tails. 🙂

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  2. Anonymous

    I was looking for more but this was enough…must be so hard for you to hold back correction…and discern which guests might “hear” you or even WANT to hear you…

    Liked by 1 person

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    • andreathompson2

      Hello to you, anonymous! Glad you are with me. Yes, sometimes less is more. It IS hard to hold back correction and I do it, but only if the child is about 5 or older. Then I do it in a “teaching” kind of way so the parent isn’t embarrassed at his or her correction. If the kid is two and the parents think chimps are monkeys, well, what can I do? Interestingly discerning who wants to learn and who doesn’t is easy. It’s all in their eye contact and continued interest and questions. I was a public speaker for soooo many years and I know how to read an audience whether it’s just two people or 200. Thanks for your comment!!

      BTW, from your first sentence, what are you looking for more of? More of Apes?

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