August 23, 2000

3:08 PM

Remember, kids, make the most of every day, because you never know when you might be crushed by a flying elk.
posted by jjg (17 comments total)

The driver was named Cable Hogue? Really? How do you get a name like Cable Hogue, anyway?
posted by rodii at 3:24 PM on August 23, 2000

Let's see... "The Ballad of Cable Hogue" movie came out in 1970...
Cable Hogue was 16, born in 1984...
Yep, his parents must've had a tape of the movie - either that... (waitforit) or the movie... (hereitcomes) WAS ON CABLE!!!

...oh, I kill me. And mostMetaFilter readers wish I would...
posted by wendell at 4:16 PM on August 23, 2000

Won't somebody think of the poor elk...?
posted by quonsar at 6:46 PM on August 23, 2000

Mmmmm. Venison like meat. Done and done.
posted by Satapher at 8:05 PM on August 23, 2000

You guys are laughing at some poor kid that has been killed and think his passing is hilariously funny? Get a grip....that is Sick with a capital S.
posted by murray_kester at 3:32 AM on August 24, 2000

All comedy is laughing at the expense of someone else...laughter is the body's way of dealing with emotional overload, both joyful and sorrowful. Yes there is a great tragedy for those involved directly...for the rest of us, though, there is no "grand lesson" to be learned, unless it's to not live in places with wild-elk.

Some people need to get a perspective...now if someone here had pushed the elk in front of the truck...THAT would be sick.
posted by nomisxid at 10:06 AM on August 24, 2000

There is no good way to die, but there are entertaining ways. Case in point: "Chuckles Bites the Dust", or, if you're going to march in a circus parade with elephants, don't go dressed as a giant peanut.
posted by wendell at 11:04 AM on August 24, 2000

Sometimes death isn't funny. It depends on how the death occurred. This is pretty damn funny. I mean, how often do you hear about people being killed by flying elks? It all depends on perspective.... Sick, maybe. Amusing all the same, yes.
posted by elf_baby at 1:10 PM on August 24, 2000

So kester was offended by THAT? Sheesh...
"Oh, the dent in the car, dad? Well, you see, there was this 1500 pound elk, and..."
posted by quonsar at 4:15 PM on August 24, 2000

Einstein said "God rolls dice." It's pretty obvious from this that he shoots billiards as well.Warning: If you are kester you may already be offended.
posted by quonsar at 4:31 PM on August 24, 2000

If it was YOUR son quonsar, how would you like people spraying jokes all over the net like a dog pees on polls as you made the funeral arrangements? I guess someone so totally devoid of sensitivity or compassion could NEVER comprehend that, so I won't waste another pixel trying to convince you that it is bad taste to laugh when people die.

This episode reminds me of a story I saw at the end of the evening news one night. A 103 year old man had commited suicide. It was supposed to make everyone laugh....some of us just don't enjoy sadism or - word of the day - shadenfreude. Were you one of the guys who used to pull wings off flies in elementary school too quonsar?
posted by murray_kester at 5:08 PM on August 24, 2000

Nope. But I have reached a sufficiently advanced state of maturity to have come to accept that horrible tragedies occur all around us all the time and there is little anyone can do about it. People have been laughing in the face of horror for centuries. It helps mask our fear of what may happen to us. I lost a niece in 1995 when her friends car hit a trailer full of horses - Arabians. Big Mothers. It is a sign of acceptance and sanity that I can still appreciate the humor in the mental picture of a 1500 pound elk careening headlong across the median, and that I'm not making a federal case out of every wag who makes light of auto accidents. Of course, YOU would probably say I suffer from NPD. I've moved on - when are you going to?
posted by quonsar at 5:29 PM on August 24, 2000

I rest my case.
posted by murray_kester at 7:56 PM on August 24, 2000

do you promise?
posted by Sapphireblue at 10:28 PM on August 24, 2000

Of course I promise
posted by murray_kester at 12:50 AM on August 25, 2000

Dogs pee on polls?
posted by rodii at 11:28 AM on August 25, 2000

Laughter in the face of horror...a coping mechanism, sure. But it doesn't quite silence the thought that someday, be it by elk or flying circus elephant, I too will meet my fate. This news article is tragic and holds some interest (much more for those who loved this boy) but what is interesting is people's response to death.


posted by tronic eye at 4:04 PM on August 26, 2000