by Richard
A couple of weeks ago, Zippy the Monkey Boy went to a special sleep-away camp at the University of North Carolina Wilmington for budding marine biologists and marine scientists. He was thrilled. He’s wanted to be a marine biologist since he was 2 years old and he hasn’t wavered since.
So, yeah. His mom and I thought it would be a great experience for him to have. He’d get a chance to rub elbows with actual marine scientists, do some actual research and meet other kids with similar interests from around the country.
We expected him to come home brimming with urgent messages, cool facts and an even more burning desire to see his life spread before him off the bow of a boat.
Begin digression. While at the camp the little dudes and dudettes studied a little Linnaean classification. That’s the system by which scientists break down what families and species different animals and plants belong to. You know, mankind is known as homo sapiens, or thinking man. End digression.
So, that’s what we thought we’d have: a Zippy the Monkey Boy who was bouncing off the walls and eager to learn. When I picked him up, I asked him what was the coolest thing that he’d learned.
“Did you know,” he asked, “that the scientific classification for the mountain gorilla is gorilla gorilla gorilla?”
Me: Um, no.
Him: It is.
Me: What else did you learn?
Him: Ihuengena. You know?
Me: Beats head against steering wheel.
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