The Infamous Wile E. Coyote piece

I wrote this piece drunk about three years ago, sitting in my boxers at my desk in the Free Press office, with a smoldering ashtray, the last of my High Lifes going lukewarm and a mad glint in my eye. I pull it out whenever things go dark...and lately

I wrote this piece drunk about three years ago, sitting in my boxers at my desk in the Free Press office, with a smoldering ashtray, the last of my High Lifes going lukewarm and a mad glint in my eye.

I'm having a hard time adhering to it as a maxim anymore, but here it is....again...


Got to thinking about Wile E.Coyote last night. About how all his best laid plans were always blowing up in his face. How boulders and were constantly crushing his dreams- how his trust in Acme Novelty was always betraying him.
And every time it happens people laugh at him. They laugh because they love to see him lose.

But he never gives up does he? Laugh if you will, but he never gives up. He's going to catch that Road Runner no matter what.
He has to- he's in the middle of the desert, right? What else does he have?
Sure, his methods raise questions.
If he has the money to buy defected booby traps and giant slingshots- or even the materials to make those witty little signs he holds up right before they backfire and turn him into a mess of ash- then why doesn't he just say screw that BIRD and strap on his rocket skates- zip down to Tuscon and get him a double decker taco?
I'll tell you why- principle. Determination. Yeah- he hears you laughing. But he doesn't care. Because he knows one thing, one little thing that he keeps tucked away.

That we are all out in that desert.

Yeah, we're all out here. And we're all just as hungry. And we’re all hungry for something more than a double decker taco. But that's what we're eating, aren't we? Everyday, the same old double decker taco.

Wile E. Coyote doesn't want that taco anymore. Wile E. wants that prize that keeps taunting him- that keeps shooting past him at mach 5. That prize that keeps coming so close he can reach out and grab it.

And he has- he's had it in his grasp and slipped through his fingers so many times.
But does he give up? No, and he never will.
He'll keep buying those defective catapults and having bombs explode in his face.
And you can laugh all you want- but you know his name don't you? You know he's out there in the desert doing what you want to be doing- chasing that dream.

Wile E. Coyote is a goddam hero in my book.

Reviews

[W.k.kortas]

It is the oldest story in the book--from Aesop's wolf leaping for the grapes to Harry Potter chasing the Golden Snitch-- we all chase the grail that hangs slightly out of our reach for all eternity, and, knowing full well that it's forever beyond our grasp, we chase it nonetheless. The mix of grittiness and Wile E. Coyote makes this a odd but wholly appealing take on the concept.