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THE NARRATIVE ARC
Getting Toy Shamed by Mean Girls When I Was Twelve
The memory came to life after visiting an orangutan facility
I was at an orangutan facility, petting one of the surprisingly human-like orangutans, Choko, whose eyes locked onto mine with an uncanny intelligence. I felt this strange sense of awe and joy as his hand ran over mine, his long fingers and coarse skin reminded me of the hands of an elder bricklayer.
Unfortunately, Choko was the only well-behaved one of the bunch. The younger orangutans were quite difficult and bratty. There was a long storm the night before and they didn’t sleep well. They were bickering, howling, and playing tug of war over desired objects.
Suddenly, one of the employees took a stick and started digging a tiny hole. They instantly stopped fighting and gathered in a half circle around her, hypnotically watching her hand digging. It was a proven de-escalation technique, also seen at the Orangutan Jungle School.
It was a fascinating testament to how young primates, like children, are easily fixated on objects and tools. There are even proven sex differences in toy preference among many primates. For example, male rhesus monkeys preferred wheeled toys while females liked a wide variety of toys.
