The origin of the Boingo name

Someone recently asked me where I got the idea for the name Boingo. Well...

When I was little, maybe 5 or 6, I had this weird Uncle Roger who would always be off traveling somewhere then he'd show up at our house totally unexpected. Uncle Roger did everything different and one oddity about him was his choice of pets... Uncle Roger had a pet Gibbon (go ahead, google it, it's a monkey.) The Gibbon's name... was Boingo!

So while Uncle Roger was visiting Boingo would jump around exploring the house and we could usually tell where he was by the noise of things falling off tables and shelves. Then there would be silence. You'd hardly notice it at first until the silence went too long and it always was MY job to go find what Boingo had gotten into.

[Can I just say here that you'd think monkey's would be great fun but truth is they get annoying fast. They pull your hair, they never obey, and even when they are small they are BADASS strong! Do not stick your fingers in their face to see what they'll do. They'll TAKE your finger is what they'll do.]

Eventually I discovered Boingo had a favorite hiding place and my searches for him were brief. I found him sitting in a pile of clothes deep in my closet. (I don't leave my clothes in piles, I use hangers. The pile was Boingo's inspiration.) So this cheeky little gibbon would be sitting in there and he'd stare up at me like I'd caught him on the toilet... just squirming in the clothes and licking his lips.

Boingo in my Closet

Another possible reason I called the store Boingo is that it's an easy name to spell and to remember, but that's not nearly as fun as a monkey story now is it!

-Jeela