Monkey's Dad's definitions

July 4, 2020 Interdependence Day

A holiday celebrating the truth that we are all in it together, that we all breathe the same air.

She would be at home on July 4, 2020 Interdependence Day, celebrating her connection to the whole world, hoping to one day be part of it, a different kind of freedom.

by Monkey's Dad June 28, 2020

gratchooity

A tip so small it is in fact something to sneeze at.

He figured their server - "My name is Jason and I'll be taking care of you this evening" - having spilled water all over the table, and their laps, having left chunks of cork in their wine, having believed that 'medium-well' and 'medium rare' were indistinguishable and trying to persuade them of same, and having asked, "You two really a couple? ... Hot chick like this actually went out with you???" before turning to her and asking what she was doing next weekend, and lastly, sneezing on their desserts... deserved an appropriate tip, he calculated Jason's gratchooity, rounding it down to the closest dime.

by Monkey's Dad December 1, 2022

mail sorting machines

Vital to the functioning of the United States Postal Service.

By late August, as America geared up for voting-by-mail in the November presidential election, countless mail sorting machines had been not only removed from Post Offices across the country, they had been destroyed.

by Monkey's Dad August 19, 2020

Covid Cease-Fire Year

The precise one-year interval between mass shootings in America, beginning with the onset of the Covid pandemic.

Between 3/16/20 and 3/16/21, mass shootings in America stopped. It was the Covid cease-fire year, and who can answer why they resumed with such force.

by Monkey's Dad April 16, 2021

virtual unreality

Disorientation when all normal human activity had been re-routed through computers.

Working from home, shopping from home, seeing other people only through skype and facetime, they felt a virtual unreality no one had predicted.

by Monkey's Dad March 18, 2020

Panarchy

In the midst of a pandemic, a country dissolving into violent chaos.

Destabilized by uncontrolled infection rates, surging unemployment, months of fear and anger, vast numbers took to the streets in incendiary protest against police violence toward blacks and America edged toward panarchy.

by Monkey's Dad June 1, 2020

humility

Human utility. A lack of arrogance and entitlement.

Who we were on the planet, and who we might become if we survived, was a question best faced with humility. Maybe our purpose was to serve other life, the animals and the trees, and to let go the notion that the earth and its creatures exist to serve humanity.

by Monkey's Dad March 22, 2020