A few times a year I like to visit Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo. I specifically go to see one thing – the Regenstein Center for African Apes. As I sit or stand there alone, I notice the similarities between them and humans, whether it’s a chimp scratching his foot or a gorilla playing peek-a-boo with another gorilla. The animals know they’re being watched and sometimes put on a show or taunt the children, like banging into the glass to scare them away. People make fun of them, like when the chimps are licking or picking the other chimps’ butts or having sex or whatever. But it just so happens I saw something pretty frickin’ ridiculous myself the last time I visited the apes.
My first selfie stick! This young guy attempted to a take a “selfie” with the chimps, smiling and turning his head a certain way as his cell phone stick went up and down. He did this for almost five minutes. I saw another person using one a few weeks later when I was walking down Michigan Avenue. Most museums have banned “the wand of narcissism,” but whether it’s true the sticks could possibly damage artworks or disrupt the visitor experience, you have to admit it’s pretty interesting to watch people use them. It’s a lot like my favorite hobby of observing animal behavior at the zoo. Not much different, in my opinion. Something tells me even with the ban, these things won’t be disappearing anytime soon. So next time you are at the Station Hall at the National Railway Museum in York (which I’ve been to several times, by the way…it’s lovely) or standing in front of the Louvre Pyramid, watch out, you just might bump into a chimp using a selfie stick.
