Chances are it’s been a while since you’ve thought about the IKEA monkey. That would make sense for most of you, as the last time this stylish yet illegal monkey was in the news was early December 2012. However, if you’re like me (in which case, I’m sorry), you think about the IKEA monkey at least once a week.
For those of you who have no idea who this monkey is that I am referring to, here is a recap of the most significant event that has occurred in recent history.
On December 9, 2012, in Toronto, a small monkey was spotted wandering around Swedish furniture store IKEA. As if this was not strange enough, the monkey was wearing a fitted shearling coat—a cute one, at that.
As you can expect, this news spread like crazy. I mean, how could it not? There was literally a seven-month old monkey hanging out in an IKEA without any explanation as to how it got there. Luckily, the monkey was dressed as though he was prepared for his 15 minutes of fame and took it in stride. Plus, the entire event was great inspiration for memes.
I can actually remember when I first heard about the IKEA monkey, which is kind of a big deal since I don’t really remember much of anything from my high school years. But this extraordinary event, this small monkey in trendy winter attire, left such a huge impact one me. And for a while I didn’t know why.
This became even more baffling as the tiny monkey’s face continued to pop into my head at random times even after the funniest memes faded into obscurity. At this point, it’s been over three and a half years since the monkey walked his way into that IKEA and into our hearts, and I think I’ve finally figured it out.
What the IKEA monkey did for me was remind me, even momentarily, that the world sometimes has more to offer than just misery. OK, I know that probably sounds silly and dramatic (because it is); I don’t think we should ever minimize the importance of bizarre, unexpected events that make us smile, even briefly. Even if the world is a scary, confusing, infuriating place, it is also full moments of pure joy that we can’t anticipate. These moments of levity are just as real as the bad ones, and they’re the ones that we need to remind us that as dark as things can get, there will always be a tiny monkey in a puffy coat to lighten it up a bit.
Anyway, thanks for letting me get fake deep about the IKEA monkey; it’s been a long year. And wherever you are, blessed IKEA monkey, I hope you are feeling as much joy as you allow me to feel.
