Monday, February 22, 2010

Weepy me

This afternoon ended the weepiest bought of PMS I have had in a long time. Whew.

Saturday morning/afternoon M and I were packing etc. at his house and we had on NPR. He loves Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. I used to love This American Life, and then stopped loving it. But it was on in the background as I was doing stuff, and slowly it creeped into my consciousness - in and out.

It was the story of a couple that raised a chimp I think (though I was envisioning a gorilla as the animal in this story was named Lucy). They decided to experiment and treat it like a child, living in their house. Sign language of course. The whole bit - to a bit beyond (they caught the chimp on the couch mastu***ting, and decided to give her a Playgirl.

In any event, all was well until they decided Lucy was too big to stay with them. They found a place in Africa to bring her and from what I gleaned, just dropped her off in the forest in a cage and left her - with a human looking over her and other primates. This animal that had been raised like a child, inside a house. All of sudden in the forest - only one human there. Of course she didn't eat. Of course there were issues. So so sad. I wept thinking of the poor animal being dumped like that. The woman in Africa who took care of her left her on an island with other chimps. A year later she came back and went onto the beach, and Lucy showed up and saw her and wrapped her/its arms around the woman and held her tight. But Lucy did let go and walked off with the other primates.

That night I had a dream. I was inside my rock climbing gym and walking up to the counter, and walked by this display case kinda thing they had. I looked inside and there was a tiny cat curled up, and you gave it attention by putting money in some part of the box. As I walked by it looked up at me and meowed. It was so sad! In the dream I tried to find someone to answer why they had the cat, and to set it free. I woke up before doing that.

Can a chimp have feelings or am I anthropomorphizing? Doesn't matter. I wept.

7 comments:

Tara said...

They certainly look and act like they have feelings. That would've made me cry too. That dream you had would've made me emotional too.

Churlita said...

Man! We are so in-synch. I was soooo much more hormonal this weekend than I normally am. I have no idea why, and I'm sure everyone really wants to know that about me. I guess, I'm just trying to say I know of what you speak.

laura b. said...

All living creatures have feelings. They may not be identical to human feelings, but certainly in higher primates they'd be quite close. I think that story would make anyone weepy, pms-ing or not.

Mrs. Hairy Woman said...

I believe that all creatures have feelings.. They may not be able to express those feelings like us Humans..I would've been balling like a baby..

Pamela said...

Tara, yeah, they do act that way.
Churlita - scary when you are in synch with someone hundreds of miles away...
Laura, and Mrs., I agree.

Mel said...

I think I'm utterly disappointed with the humans......

What a sad thing.
I do hope you're feeling less overwhelmed by the stuff around you.

Sebastien Millon said...

I think a chimp can have feelings. That is a cruel thing to do, in my opinion.

And I love This American Life. I'm not a huge fan of Wait Wait. We also get a great show here on the Phoenix NPR, Wiretap. Hilarious show, worth checking out.