# Woman w/anxiety disorder takes helper monkey into buffet restaurant - Do you object? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 15, 2006, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-w-anxiety-disorder-takes-helper-monkey-into-buffet-restaurant-do-you-object/372882 "2006-09-15T20:25:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-w-anxiety-disorder-takes-helper-monkey-into-buffet-restaurant-do-you-object/372882/1 "2006-09-15T20:25:22Z")
[Missouri Woman Wants to Take Pet Monkey Into Restaurants As a Service Animal](http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2449558) Are you OK with a person having a helper monkey riding on her shoulder as she cruises the buffet? IMO if she was physically disabled that would be one thing, but to insist on a taking a monkey into a restaurant for emotional support is (IMO) getting a bit past the point of social acceptability. (story from CBS via fark) > [@](#): > > Officials from the health department and Southwest Center for Independent Living met Friday morning, according to a health department spokeswoman, who could not immediately say what the result of the meeting was. > > Family members said Rose’s anxiety is disabling. Without her monkey, she’s less able to manage normal tasks, such as grocery shopping and dining out because of severe anxiety. > > Rose said she was aware that the monkey’s presence upset at least one customer at a recent outing at a buffet-style restaurant. Jodi Daniel was the health inspector who received complaints from that outing, prompting her to call the federal ADA hot line. > > “What they consider a service animal is that the animal is trained by someone to perform a specific task,” said Daniel, who did not get the name of the woman who answered the ADA hot line ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-w-anxiety-disorder-takes-helper-monkey-into-buffet-restaurant-do-you-object/372882/2 "2006-09-15T20:26:24Z")
I thought discriminating against someone with a monkey on her back was covered under the ADA. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-w-anxiety-disorder-takes-helper-monkey-into-buffet-restaurant-do-you-object/372882/3 "2006-09-15T20:42:54Z")
Wouldn’t bother me assuming it was an actual service animal. Also, that it didn’t fling poo. I would really object to poo flinging at a buffet. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-w-anxiety-disorder-takes-helper-monkey-into-buffet-restaurant-do-you-object/372882/4 "2006-09-15T20:56:02Z")
I don’t think a well-trained monkey is nearly as hazardous at a buffet as a snotty nosed, sneezy kid who grabs things with his dirty hands and puts them back in the trays and then tries to trip me as I’m walking back to my table because his parents are way-the-fuck-over-there paying no attention to their spawn. And I like kids, really I do. Got a couple of my own I’m particularly partial to. But I do think that perhaps a buffet wasn’t the most kind choice for her to go to. Certainly it’s her right and it’s legal and all, but I can understand why diners would be upset about the possibility of monkey hairs in their mac-n-cheese. At a regular sit-down restaurant, though, where her food is brought to her and she and monkey sit in place, I don’t see why there should be any fuss at all. ---
**Author:** ![uglybeech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/82dd89/32.png) [@uglybeech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uglybeech)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-w-anxiety-disorder-takes-helper-monkey-into-buffet-restaurant-do-you-object/372882/5 "2006-09-15T20:59:39Z")
I love it. We need more people like this around. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-w-anxiety-disorder-takes-helper-monkey-into-buffet-restaurant-do-you-object/372882/6 "2006-09-15T21:03:36Z")
If she brought it in for emotional support she’s going to need it after I fling my 1st amendment poo at her. This happened on an airline only it involved a [helper-pig](http://archives.cnn.com/2000/US/10/27/when.pigs.fly.ap/index.html). . Won’t happen on any flight I’m on. I’ll claim emotional distress from 300 lb farm animals. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-w-anxiety-disorder-takes-helper-monkey-into-buffet-restaurant-do-you-object/372882/7 "2006-09-15T21:13:17Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] At a regular sit-down restaurant, though, where her food is brought to her and she and monkey sit in place, I don’t see why there should be any fuss at all. [/QUOTE] A [bonnet macaque](http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwvir/VirusInfo/pages/bonnet1_jpg.htm) has a catholic diet. It eats, among other delicacies, food which humans offer at temples. If it does this as a matter of course I can’t see the animal keeping still for a sit-down meal in a restaurant. The macaque is far more likely to visit other tables and help itself to whatever it likes. Mind you, on those occasions when my order has been slow to arrive I’ve been tempted to do exactly the same thing myself. ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-w-anxiety-disorder-takes-helper-monkey-into-buffet-restaurant-do-you-object/372882/8 "2006-09-15T21:23:55Z")
I for one cannot function without my troop of well-oiled egyptian boys, so I know how she feels. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-w-anxiety-disorder-takes-helper-monkey-into-buffet-restaurant-do-you-object/372882/9 "2006-09-15T21:25:07Z")
As long as the Monkey doesn’t touch the food I have no problems. Similarly I would object to a seeing eye dog if it touched the buffet food (except by freak accident). ---
**Author:** ![Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-w-anxiety-disorder-takes-helper-monkey-into-buffet-restaurant-do-you-object/372882/10 "2006-09-15T21:24:46Z")
You’d think that all the attention she gets from carrying a monkey around would make her more anxious. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-w-anxiety-disorder-takes-helper-monkey-into-buffet-restaurant-do-you-object/372882/11 "2006-09-15T21:25:37Z")
I’d be put off by a monkey riding someones shoulder at a buffet. Service dogs are below the level of the food, so they don’t bother me. A monkey at food level would. I’d be ok with a monkey at a serve-food-at-the-table restaurant, as long as it behaved itself. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-w-anxiety-disorder-takes-helper-monkey-into-buffet-restaurant-do-you-object/372882/12 "2006-09-15T21:30:20Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] A [bonnet macaque](http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwvir/VirusInfo/pages/bonnet1_jpg.htm) has a catholic diet. It eats, among other delicacies, food which humans offer at temples. If it does this as a matter of course I can’t see the animal keeping still for a sit-down meal in a restaurant. The macaque is far more likely to visit other tables and help itself to whatever it likes. Mind you, on those occasions when my order has been slow to arrive I’ve been tempted to do exactly the same thing myself. [/QUOTE] I know. Little fuckers jumped on my head and pulled my braids out in Bali. They’re heavier then they look, especially when their little pointy fingers are dug into your scalp. But one assumes a “helper monkey” has been trained to heel, if nothing else. If, as you imply, the monkey was visiting other tables and taking food, then I withdraw my support. Nothing in the article suggests this is the case, however. ---
**Author:** ![melondeca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@melondeca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melondeca)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-w-anxiety-disorder-takes-helper-monkey-into-buffet-restaurant-do-you-object/372882/13 "2006-09-15T21:33:59Z")
I would have no objections. In fact, the monkey is probably cleaner and more well-mannered than a lot of people who visit buffets. ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-w-anxiety-disorder-takes-helper-monkey-into-buffet-restaurant-do-you-object/372882/14 "2006-09-15T21:41:50Z")
How the hell does one acquire a monkey? I would be put off if I saw a monkey at a buffet, but luckily, I don’t go to buffets. And I live a couple hours away from her. Her therapist should wean her off the monkey and maybe onto a stuffed monkey toy. Or maybe a tiny dog that fits in a purse, like Paris Hilton or something. Do those monkeys routinely make a lot of noise? I would be startled if I was out eating and heard a monkey scream or whatever you call the noises they make. And I suppose the monkey wears a diaper. But damn I can’t think of many other plausible things that would attract that much attention. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-w-anxiety-disorder-takes-helper-monkey-into-buffet-restaurant-do-you-object/372882/15 "2006-09-15T21:46:09Z")
[QUOTE=myskepticsight] How the hell does one acquire a monkey? [/QUOTE] From an exotic animal breeder or over the internet. [Monkey ownership is not regulated in Missouri.](http://www.petmonkey.info/laws.htm) ---
**Author:** ![uglybeech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/82dd89/32.png) [@uglybeech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uglybeech)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-w-anxiety-disorder-takes-helper-monkey-into-buffet-restaurant-do-you-object/372882/16 "2006-09-15T21:51:44Z")
It would make my day to see a monkey riding around on somebody’s shoulder in a restaurant. The minute my germophobia made it impossible for me to appreciate that scene, or the eccentric woman who needs her monkey and still has the balls to take it to a buffet – is the minute I’d get my own shrink. Or helper-monkey. ---
**Author:** ![Kairos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecc23a/32.png) [@Kairos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kairos)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-w-anxiety-disorder-takes-helper-monkey-into-buffet-restaurant-do-you-object/372882/17 "2006-09-15T21:53:19Z")
Personally, I’d really like to talk to her therapist. I mean, if she’s got debilitating anxiety, surely she has a therapist, right? Her _family_ says her anxiety is disabling, but what does her _doctor_ say? I’m willing to bet that there is no doctor. Perhaps a psychologist will do her more good than a monkey. Where did she even _get_ a bonnet macaque? I’ve searched and haven’t been able to find anything about the legality of owning a bonnet macaque as a pet in the US, but Wikipedia does mention that [“nearly all (circa 90%) pet or captive macaques are carriers of the herpes-B virus.”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macaque) (On preview, thank you, **WhyNot** , for finding what I could not.) Then again, I might be biased, as I find monkeys to be icky, creepy creatures. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-w-anxiety-disorder-takes-helper-monkey-into-buffet-restaurant-do-you-object/372882/18 "2006-09-15T22:21:55Z")
[QUOTE=Kairos] Where did she even _get_ a bonnet macaque? I’ve searched and haven’t been able to find anything about the legality of owning a bonnet macaque as a pet in the US, but Wikipedia does mention that [“nearly all (circa 90%) pet or captive macaques are carriers of the herpes-B virus.”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macaque) (On preview, thank you, **WhyNot** , for finding what I could not.) [/QUOTE] Let’s see, you posted at 4:53 CST, and as I begin to type this, it’s 5:16 and I’ve found six macaques for sale by going through links on pages from Google. I didn’t find anything from Google directly, but followed suggested link from pages listed on Google. Males run around $3500 and females $4000. I know nothing about monkeys or breeding or raising them, but I can take delivery of a macaque tomorrow during business hours. I won’t, and I don’t think anyone else should, so I won’t link to the sites I’ve found, but they’re not that hard to find. ---
**Author:** ![Apricot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bcef8e/32.png) [@Apricot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apricot)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-w-anxiety-disorder-takes-helper-monkey-into-buffet-restaurant-do-you-object/372882/19 "2006-09-15T22:22:38Z")
A quadraplegic friend of mine was considering getting a helper monkey - a capuchin, IIRC. It seemed odd at first, but I got used to the idea. Can’t be any weirder than a helper dog and those seem to get along in public pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-w-anxiety-disorder-takes-helper-monkey-into-buffet-restaurant-do-you-object/372882/20 "2006-09-15T22:28:49Z")
[QUOTE=alice\_in\_wonderland] I would really object to poo flinging at a buffet. [/QUOTE] Words to live by. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-w-anxiety-disorder-takes-helper-monkey-into-buffet-restaurant-do-you-object/372882.md?page=2)