A long, long time ago - I can still remember.... Oops, wait a minute. That's a song. Let me start over:

Many years ago, way back in 1993 (or was it 94?) there was a group of writers meeting for dinner. They went to a restaurant in NYC called Asti. The waiters in this restaurant were a bit unique - they sang opera.

There were about 14 people sitting around a big table in the center of the restaurant. Everyone was talking, eating, drinking and passing around photos of other members of our group who couldn't make it to this little party.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a waiter sneaks up behind the quietest person at the table. He puts his hand on her shoulder and says, "Please come with us. We need you." She follows him into a back room where there are eight or so other people. A waiter is handing out brown, hooded monk robes and small flashlights. Everyone puts on a monk robe & takes a flashlight.

All the lights in the restaurant are turned off. The monks, each with a flashlight in one hand have their other hand on the shoulder of the person in front of them. This row of monks wander around the restaurant while the waiters sing.

The group of writers thinks seeing one of their members marching around like this is extremely funny. One takes a blackmail picture. Another takes to calling her "Thespian Monk". The "thespian" part was dropped. A Texan member of the writing group changed the form of "Monk" to reflect the fact that this monk person is small, thus the "ling" part was added. And so, Monkling was created.

This story was originally written about 5 years ago. I feel compelled to add a bit of a footnote here. People have referred to me as being shy. Believe me, I am not shy. Yes, I am quiet, I am an introvert, I prefer listening to talking but I am not shy. Shy people don't go cursing out people who are stupid enough to park & block their driveways. Shy people would just timidly wait until the offender just pulls away.