MONKEY FIGURINE

But on with my story about watching a stuffed monkey interact with their Zoo Keeper. I can recall watching him when he was sweeping out the big plush monkey enclosure. He was industriously sweeping up dead leaves, twigs and the rest of the litter the  monkey had made and he was taking no notice at all of the antics of the noisy crew of monkeys. I guess he was used to their racket. Suddenly one of the stuffed monkey swung down from a branch and snatched his cap right off his head. The Zoo Keeper hardly had time to react to what had happened before that stuffed monkey was out of reach in the higher branches of the tree.

The Zoo Keeper pantomimed a shrug for his audience: no point in him even thinking of climbing the tree after that plush monkey. The Zoo Keeper carried on with his cleaning up and ignored the chattering stuffed monkey. The stuffed monkey dropped from the tree just a few feet behind the Zoo Keeper, screeched in that way monkeys have and flourished the cap when the Zoo Keeper looked around startled. The plush monkey did the same, putting its head a little on one side as if he was waiting for an answer. The Zoo Keeper took a slow step towards the monkey and the monkey just stood there holding the Zoo Keeper’s cap. The Zoo Keeper took another cautious step towards the stuffed monkey and this time the plush monkey took a step back.

By now a crowd of children had gathered and they giggled as the Zoo Keeper looked up at the monkey who had again perched out of reach chattering loudly and waving the cap in the air. What the Zoo Keeper didn’t know (but the children did) was that another plush monkey had removed a small shovel from his unattended cart and was marching about waving the shovel in the air as if he was conducting some invisible monkeys orchestra. When plush monkey number two started beating the shovel against the bars of the enclosure, the Zoo Keeper did notice and his attention was completely diverted from the first plush monkey.

At that moment, the gate into the enclosure opened and a Feeding Attendant brought in the monkeys lunch. Monkey number one saw the attendant and lost all interest in the cap, which he dropped on the ground. The second monkey threw the shovel over his shoulder as he loped in the direction of the food.

What does chasing after monkeys have to do with your Internet business? When I am working at my home based business on the Internet, I often feel as if I am trying to work in a cage full of monkeys. There are so many distractions, so many people trying to get your attention and lure you to their websites. If you do not remain focused on the job in hand, working on the internet can turn out very much like chasing monkeys.