Sounds like Good Sense

So, having been left with all the 'monkeys' (problems - see blog 8th October 2012) everyone (thinking only of their monkey of course), starts to question your caretaker abilities. Even if you were able to keep them, fed, clean, and safe. If the monkeys were not also achieving wonderful new levels of skill sets or abilities, personal grooming, to appear less troublesome, or more controllable, than they were when you first took them on (or when they were first dumped on you), the original monkey wranglers become unhappy with your Monkey wrangling skills. Very quickly they begin to turn on you. You knew you were only minding the monkey. They appear to have thought you were going to raise it. They probably thought it would come back to them as a wonderful, competent, proud and majestic mountain gorilla (or in another words, a fully resolved problem).

They may feel let down and they may even criticise you. Despite the fact that everyone simply abandoned their monkeys with you the moment you raised your slight interest in what appeared to be an interesting monkey. Yet you have persevered. You have done the best you can with the troop of monkeys on your back. There must come a time when you have to return them to their rightful owner/master. You will of course attempt to return them in a caring and thoughtful manner. In an appropriate time and place. There will no doubt be tears (mainly from the ones getting their monkeys back I am sure), but for your own sanity, peace of mind and work skills, it is imperative that you do not permanently keep the monkeys. You must make it clear that you had not offered to take a monkey, but simply had commented that you thought it was a nice, or interesting monkey. 

Certainly, in handing back the monkey, you may want to make a recommendation as to it's future diet, or exercise (potential solutions). This is your right. You have cared for, exercised and fed (hopefully without any major unwanted growth occurring, within reason), the monkey. Hopefully, in the time it has been with you, it has improved it's appearance, and the demeanour even more so. But no matter how you may feel about, it is not your monkey to keep. You must allow the person who let you 'hold the monkey' to assume the responsibility again. In most cases they will not want to. They have already demonstrated their lack of 'animal management skills' (as it were). The idea of giving the monkey back to someone who did not wish to have it in the first place, suggests that there may be concern by you  for the monkeys welfare. Once again this is not your problem. Anyone can learn to look after a monkey. What they learn about themselves while caring for it, may be a far more important lesson. And they will not learn anything, if they do not actually get to care for the monkey themselves. Let them be the first to give the monkey a banana. The entire  solution may be in that first feeding.
(Continued tomorrow)