‘Fat, dumb & happy’ is an expression I first heard in grade school. It has never changed, never gone out of style. It can be taken as a benign default to a less pressure, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it sensibility but it’s not how one would want to be thought of. FD&H is an insult. That would be someone who is either content or resigned (given up), living their life in a microscopic comfort zone. If they needed to put that in their own words they might say , “I would take comfort in ignorance and indifference rather than suffer the burden of knowledge and accountability.” They may know better but prefer denial (surrender), and fall into the FD&H gap. Having an opinion is necessary but judgement leaves a self serving aftertaste that obviously appeals to some but when I catch myself in that mode, I want to spit. Keeping that balance, balanced requires one’s undivided attention like balancing a broom handle on your fingertip. What I can’t escape is the fragile, vulnerable nature of maintaining a balance. It would be easy to fall off that narrow ledge into a thin, shallow comfort zone. In self defense, against common sense advice, not to look down, I look down anyway to see where my feet have done.
Fat, dumb & happy could be worse, I could dive into even less flattering, unforgivable truths about human nature/behavior. I hate cliches but when you need one; (been there, done that). As a student of human behavior I realize, every study, every theory adds to the body of knowledge. Still, when testing coffee in your cup the palate does very well without interrogating every bean in the bag. We do our best, not bad for high functioning monkeys.
It’s been over a decade, I took my granddaughter to the zoo. They had a new facility for the great apes with a large, open space, trees and jungle-gyms with climbing ropes, a moat and high walls to separate great apes from people. But there was a sheltered alcove in the wall with a large, plexiglass panel, 20’ wide, 8’ high; no visible barrier between the captive monkeys and the civilized ones. You could walk up to it, sit down and gorillas on the other side might come up close, only inches away. The unspoken wish of every person is to touch hands through the glass with a great ape. They (gorillas) pay close attention to who’s at the alcove but act disinterested. It’s their game and they play it as surely as the kids and parents in the alcove play theirs.
A big, old silverback was up on a rise with his back to us, at least 100’ away. There was a sign in the alcove warning not to stare at the gorillas. They interpret direct eye contact as aggressive, threatening behavior and they don’t like it, especially the silverbacks. But kids don’t read the signs and neither do most adults for that matter. The old silverback did a slow turn of the head, staring eye to eye with his audience. Without overstating it; you simply can not imagine how fast an old, lazy looking gorilla can cover 100’. He knew exactly how to body slam into the plexiglass so it boomed like a cannon going off. It startled me even though I saw him coming and kids scattered like confetti from a popped balloon. In a heartbeat he walked away, finished with his prank, had his laugh in private. There was no smug, over the shoulder peek but he must have been feeling pretty good.
Kids wave and pound on the window, try to stare down the gorilla, hoping for a response. The old silverback has his own game and it was all about scaring people. I noticed poop splattered on the gorilla side of the window. The zoo keepers clean it off every day. A friend who worked at the zoo told me, if they don’t like the people they let you know with a hand-full of crap. Throwing poop is a metaphor for people but with the apes, it is real. That has to be the ultimate insult. “This is what I think of you!” If they had the dexterity (opposed thumbs) they could give us the finger and wouldn’t that be a great P.R. for the zoo. I don’t know if gorillas actually think thoughts, I’m guessing they do; not with words but certainly conceptual constructs. But they do have feelings and know how to express them. “Sure Honey,” the lady said, “make faces, wave your arms and tap on the glass. See if the gorilla will wave back.” The same lady almost peed her pants when the big boy ‘Boomed’ the plexiglass. She recovered, collected her kids, looked up and there was fresh poop on the window. Even a human should comprehend that message. But more often than not, I think the people walk away, FD&H. “Yes Honey, they are God’s creatures but He loves us more. We get to go to Heaven and they don’t.”
I know a lady who believes, seriously, that zoos are prisons for wild animals and that being on display is cruel punishment. If you want to spoil her day just mention how nice it was at the zoo. The big mammals often relate well to their handlers but then they depend on handlers for food. I get it. I know zoos are the only place most people have to see and experience wild animals and some species need support and protection. But that’s the result of poaching or habitat loss to human development. Again, trying not to judge but keeping that balance, in balance is not as easy as changing the subject when a monkey throws poop at you, not in your direction; aiming at you. If there had been steel bars there instead of the plexiglass you would reek of gorilla excrement. The gorilla would be smiling, hooting and thumping his chest like a Roman Gladiator.
Fat, dumb & happy could be worse, I could dive into even less flattering, unforgivable truths about human nature/behavior. I hate cliches but when you need one; (been there, done that). As a student of human behavior I realize, every study, every theory adds to the body of knowledge. Still, when testing coffee in your cup the palate does very well without interrogating every bean in the bag. We do our best, not bad for high functioning monkeys.
It’s been over a decade, I took my granddaughter to the zoo. They had a new facility for the great apes with a large, open space, trees and jungle-gyms with climbing ropes, a moat and high walls to separate great apes from people. But there was a sheltered alcove in the wall with a large, plexiglass panel, 20’ wide, 8’ high; no visible barrier between the captive monkeys and the civilized ones. You could walk up to it, sit down and gorillas on the other side might come up close, only inches away. The unspoken wish of every person is to touch hands through the glass with a great ape. They (gorillas) pay close attention to who’s at the alcove but act disinterested. It’s their game and they play it as surely as the kids and parents in the alcove play theirs.
A big, old silverback was up on a rise with his back to us, at least 100’ away. There was a sign in the alcove warning not to stare at the gorillas. They interpret direct eye contact as aggressive, threatening behavior and they don’t like it, especially the silverbacks. But kids don’t read the signs and neither do most adults for that matter. The old silverback did a slow turn of the head, staring eye to eye with his audience. Without overstating it; you simply can not imagine how fast an old, lazy looking gorilla can cover 100’. He knew exactly how to body slam into the plexiglass so it boomed like a cannon going off. It startled me even though I saw him coming and kids scattered like confetti from a popped balloon. In a heartbeat he walked away, finished with his prank, had his laugh in private. There was no smug, over the shoulder peek but he must have been feeling pretty good.
Kids wave and pound on the window, try to stare down the gorilla, hoping for a response. The old silverback has his own game and it was all about scaring people. I noticed poop splattered on the gorilla side of the window. The zoo keepers clean it off every day. A friend who worked at the zoo told me, if they don’t like the people they let you know with a hand-full of crap. Throwing poop is a metaphor for people but with the apes, it is real. That has to be the ultimate insult. “This is what I think of you!” If they had the dexterity (opposed thumbs) they could give us the finger and wouldn’t that be a great P.R. for the zoo. I don’t know if gorillas actually think thoughts, I’m guessing they do; not with words but certainly conceptual constructs. But they do have feelings and know how to express them. “Sure Honey,” the lady said, “make faces, wave your arms and tap on the glass. See if the gorilla will wave back.” The same lady almost peed her pants when the big boy ‘Boomed’ the plexiglass. She recovered, collected her kids, looked up and there was fresh poop on the window. Even a human should comprehend that message. But more often than not, I think the people walk away, FD&H. “Yes Honey, they are God’s creatures but He loves us more. We get to go to Heaven and they don’t.”
I know a lady who believes, seriously, that zoos are prisons for wild animals and that being on display is cruel punishment. If you want to spoil her day just mention how nice it was at the zoo. The big mammals often relate well to their handlers but then they depend on handlers for food. I get it. I know zoos are the only place most people have to see and experience wild animals and some species need support and protection. But that’s the result of poaching or habitat loss to human development. Again, trying not to judge but keeping that balance, in balance is not as easy as changing the subject when a monkey throws poop at you, not in your direction; aiming at you. If there had been steel bars there instead of the plexiglass you would reek of gorilla excrement. The gorilla would be smiling, hooting and thumping his chest like a Roman Gladiator.
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