I’m struck by how many of our “heroes” in life are idiots. They are people who aren’t role models and people you should never pattern your life after. But they have a quality of appeal to them that is undeniable.
A lot of hollywood stars are this way.
A lot of sports figures fall into this category.
No pictures or name dropping necessary, I think.
I was reading this article this morning and I had to think a long time about whether I really liked this guy or whether I was really mad that he did this. It’s the real Canonball Run: a race against the clock–across the country.
Alex Roy is a daredevil and I can’t think of anything but Burt Reynolds when I read the story. He could have killed lots of people besides himself and I have no idea how many times he tried, but he and a co-driver named Henry Fyshe recently, successfully made their way across the United States from Manhattan to Santa Monica in less than 32 hours. That’s blazing. In fact, it’s going a non-stop average of more than 90 mph. When you factor in stops to pee and fill up the car’s gas tank it means they had to drive over 100 mph frequently and often 130 plus.
Alex Roy’s racetrack is your interstate as you were going to work or taking your kids to school. This is through downtown Santa Monica and any highway or bi-way they had to take to get from A to B. Here’s an excerpt of the action.
[youtube]2pImIwAQcrI[/youtube]
So he’s an idiot. Sure, he broke the law and probably would be in jail if he didn’t have dozens of radar detection and jamming devices on board but the worst part is this: he could have killed you or me for the sake of breaking a record. He’s an i-d-i-o-t.
A little part of me, though, ashamedly, really likes the guy. I’m kind of like, ‘whoa, that’s pretty cool.’ I mean, the gadgets alone make me drool a little. And there’s a little of that thing inside me that made all those Smoky and the Bandit movies cool in the 70’s. And the article even had a couple funny CB lines that made that nostalgia all the more fresh.
I see a bit of myself in Alex Roy. Not that I’ve done anything as amazing as driving a car really fast across the country. I’ve gotten 3 speeding tickets in my life. The first two were within my first 3 months of driving a car. So I’m not a total lead-foot.
No, the thing I see in myself is a little darker than that. We probably all do if we’re honest.
There have been times in my life where I’ve set aside everyone else’s interests and well-being in order to accomplish my own goals.
I’ve been an idiot. I’ve been blind to my destructive ways for the sake of me. And I hate being wrong. And I hate being an idiot. I’d way rather be a hero.
We all have pursuits that we’re going to achieve no matter what it costs us. We might even feel a little heroic in the process and we might even feel a little justified. But every so often I have to stop and ask this question. What are my vainglorious pursuits costing me?
Hopefully when we die, we’ll be remembered for being heroes more than for being idiots. That reminds me, I need to post my song story for The Ballad of Jon Turner. That’s coming up this weekend.
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