The Great Potato Chip Escapade

Several years ago, my wife and I were visiting our son and his family who were living in Germany at the time. Traditionally when we visited, we took a family trip and spent a week or so visiting another part of Europe. On this particular trip, we decided to visit Spain, which included a visit to the Rock of Gibraltar.

We had been told about the apes living on the ‘The Rock’. In reality, they are not apes but Barbary macaque (monkeys), but are commonly referred to as Barbary apes. We thought it would be fun to pay them a visit, so we hired a guide, who warned us that they are still wild animals and if frightened they will bite. He reminded us that the apes usually tolerate tourists, but they are not caged so we had to be careful. 

He drove us to where the apes lived and parked the car so we could get out and walk around. We were pleasantly surprised at how seemingly friendly and fearless they were towards us. They came up to us, begged for food, jumped on our shoulders, let us take their picture, and one of them (the stupid one) even pooped on my head. Obviously, this did not endear him to me but otherwise it made my family’s day. 

My wife was a good sport through all this, but didn’t particularly want her picture taken holding an ape, so she went to sit in the car in peace, be by herself, and wait until the rest of us were finished. Ultimately, this decision led to the greatest scare and most memorable moment of the day. 

I walked with her to the car and opened the door so she could get in, but before I could close the door, an unexpected visitor jumped in with her. It was a friendly ape that I believe wanted to give her a hug but at the last minute decided to steal a bag of potato chips. Before either of us could react, in a single motion, this thief grabbed the bag, jumped out the door and onto the roof of the car, then swooshed to the top of a nearby tree, contraband in hand. There she sat, apparently quite pleased with herself, gloating as she stared at us and all the other apes and joyfully ate every last chip all by herself. 

After everything settled down, my wife told us that she had not defended our chips or fought the ape for them because she had no desire to be bitten, scratched, pinched, or even kissed just to save a bag of potato chips. We thought she made the right decision and declared her our hero.

As I thought about what happened that day, I was curious about the ape’s daring approach to stealing our potato chips and wondered if an analogy could be made to our lives. I realized that risk taking was one of this ape’s coping skills. 

Like the ape, part of our surviving and thriving depends on our development of risk-taking skills as well. All risk taking involves getting out of our comfort zone and trying creative responses to our challenges. Taking risks to improve ourselves and our lives is an important part of gaining personal strength and resilience. Conversely, a lack of courage to try can lead to stagnation and limit our personal growth.

Obviously, our friend the ape took a chance and was rewarded with a bag of potato chips. What rewards could we obtain if we took a risk and stepped out of the box? We will never know unless we try! Let’s help our children understand the value of positive risk taking and help them take the chance.

Happy Failing Forward,

Calvert