You start with a cage containing four monkeys and inside the cage you hang a banana on a string, and then you place a set of stairs under the banana.
Before long a monkey will go to the stairs and climb toward the banana
You then spray ALL the monkeys with cold water. After a while, another monkey makes an attempt. As soon as he touches the stairs, you spray ALL the monkeys with cold water.
Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.
Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new monkey. The new monkey sees the banana and attempts to climb the stairs. To his shock, ALL of the other monkeys beat the crap out of him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs he will be assaulted.
Next, remove another of the original four monkeys, replacing it with a new monkey. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment – with enthusiasm – because he is now part of the “team.”
Then, replace a third original monkey with a new monkey, followed by the fourth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked.
Now, the monkeys that are beating him up have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs.
Neither do they know why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey. Having replaced all of the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys will have ever been sprayed with cold water.
Nevertheless, not one of the monkeys will try to climb the stairway for the Banana. .
Why, you ask? Because in their minds, that is the way it has always been!
This is how today’s House and Senate operates, and this Is why from time to time, ALL of the monkeys need to be REPLACED AT THE SAME TIME!
DISCLAIMER:
This is meant as no disrespect to monkeys
geeez2014
GeeeZ .... 
Tradition — stuff people make up as they go along and convince other people to engage in.
Justification of traditions — “Because.”
In the nearly 60 years I’ve known her, my wife has invented dozens, perhaps hundreds, of “customs,” “legends,” “myths,” and “traditions.”
Some are cute, such as “if a woman dreams of flowers, she will become pregnant within days, a girl if the flowers are pink and a boy if the petals are blue.”
Some are scary: “if you place garlic on your windowsill to keep evil away and someone removes it, you’ll be tormented by witches and vampires and trolls.”
Some are universal: never give a knife to someone as a present, because it signifies severing your relationship with them.
And I’ve never quite understood the one about — when having a meal with family and someone leaves the house before everyone is finished eating, those remaining must rotate their dinnerplates three times or whoever left will have bad luck.
We were visiting my mother many years ago. Her husband (my stepfather) was sitting under a tree in the yard. A black butterfly came along and landed on his head. My wife crossed herself and mumbled something I didn’t hear. Later I asked her why she’d done that, and she said, “When a black butterfly lands on someone, it means he’s about to die.”
I figured that like much of her stuff she was just makin it up on the fly. But about 3 weeks later he had a massive stroke and passed.
She’s also completely convinced that the spirit of her father visits from time to time . . . especially when she hears a strange noise or a door closes or opens by itself or she suddenly finds something she’d misplaced and couldn’t find for a few days.
I think she has conversations with him when I’m not around. I know she talks with Jesus all the time when she’s alone in her room . . . prob’ly askin Him to go easy on me when my time is up.
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LOL, loved the monkey story (I was wondering where it was going) Since we can’t change congress wholesale, may we spray Nancy Pelosi with a water cannon?
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I’d much rather hit her on the head with Iceland.
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You may not have intended disrespect to monkeys, but you have offended them by the millions and I’ll just say that since all monkeys are registered Democrats, prepare yourself for massive lawsuits. By the way, the only reason monkeys like bananas is because someone else paid for them. Oops. Kid wrote that last line.
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Odd you bring this up as recently I concluded that the democrats got their campaign strategy after going to the zoo and watching the monkeys.
The monkeys would fling their feces from the cage at all the passers by yet right on schedule the zoo staff would still come by and feed them. This is how the democrats learned how to run for office.
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The sad part is that the opposite is true as well. Behavior that improves the specie and rate of success is embedded in the DNA…. we only need those to point the way for those who are floundering,
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Great comments from everyone. The lessons I take from the Wet Monkey Banana Experiment (WMBE) is that to survive you must pay attention to tradition, no matter the underpinning of that tradition. The phrase, wet blanket, comes to mind, too.
I guess superstitions can be traditions, too. One of my favorites I read in the novel Tom Sawyer was that you would have bad luck if you spilled salt. You could redeem yourself by throwing a pinch of salt over your left shoulder. I am a left-shoulder salt guy whether at home or a restaurant.
Not all traditions are unfounded, and not all faith is superstition. John Wesley of Methodist Church fame referenced four guidelines to use when it comes to examining one’s faith.
1. Scripture
2. Reason
3. Experience
4. Tradition
These guidelines are helpful not only in issues of God and faith, but if people would apply similar thoughtfulness to everyday issues there would be less arguing and more honest discussion.
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Mustang; See my very last line…that was added by me “no disrespect to monkeys!’
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