Maybe Darwin Was Right!

Maybe Darwin Was Right!

Some of these posts remind me of an important lesson I learned as a young father.

My best buddy, "Big John," and I decided to take my daughter to the zoo. "Big John" was an oversized Marine who had just returned from two tours of duty in Viet Nam. At the time, I was an oversized Campus Chaplain, also a military veteran, and I looked like a "hippie". John and I enjoyed the attention caused by two big, tough looking guys "hanging out" with a little girl in a stroller.

We also attracted the attention of the chimpanzees. Unprovoked, the chimps began to hurl their own dung at us. They got excited enough to qualify as a Chinese fire drill. Soon, a steady barrage of chimp dung was in the air.

Male instinct prevailed over good sense. John and I responded aggressively to the attack on "our baby". I grabbed a disposable diaper to use for a glove, and guess who flung dung back at the Chinese chimps? John joined in. A crowd began to gather. The cheering encouraged both sides. "Our baby" jumped up and down in her stroller excitedly laughing and pretending to throw.

Predictably, zoo security asked us to leave, which spoiled the fun for both man and beast.

Moral of the story: ”Don't argue with an idiot; people watching may not be able to tell the difference”.