January 14, 2001
CYBERCOLUMN:
A duck's life
___By Brett Younger
___Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck, Daffy Duck, Peking ducks, Oregon Ducks, Mighty Ducks, duct tape, and Duck Soup are all fine ducks. They're good ducks, great ducks, even Hall of Fame ducks (like Joe "Ducky" Medwick, St. Louis Cardinals outfielder), but only in their dreams did they get to be Peabody Ducks. My family recently was privileged to see the world-famous Peabody Ducks.
___Since the 1930s, every morning at 11:00 the ducks come down the elevator and march into the lobby of the Peabody Hotel inMemphis, Tenn. Children and adults come from all over the world to take a gander. Well-dressed people sipping from $80 bottles of French wine line the red carpet and hang from the balcony to clap and cheer as the ducks process to the music of John Phillip Sousa. On Friday morning at 10:55, as we waited with joyous anticipation, our camera at the ready, I overhead this conversation:
Brett Younger
___"This is stupid. They're ducks."
___"You're stupid! They're Peabody Ducks!"
___The ducks swim happily in the fountain all day long. They've heard the announcer explain countless times that the fountain's centerpiece is made from one piece of Italian marble. Cherubs hold up a bowl of brightly colored flowers.
___At precisely 5:00 in the afternoon, the duckmaster returns dressed in his top hat, whistles and medals (doubtless earned with great valor). The ducks march out of the lobby, into the elevator, and up to the roof, where they spend the evening in their Victorian duck palace.
___Most ducks walk with a kind of casual silliness, their short necks and legs bouncing happily. A Peabody duck moves with regal elegance. It's a walk that says trouble must fall away like water off a duck's back. Whether the rain falls (or the sun shines), it's a good day for the ducks.
___It's also a good day for the keepers of the ducks. The Lucky Duck gift shop in the lobby of the Peabody sells duck umbrellas, duck earrings, duck slippers, duck bill holders, rubber duckies, stuffed ducks (not dead ducks, 100 percent polyester), Santa ducks (1/2 price) and Elvis ducks (it's Memphis).
___If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck, unless it's a Peabody. There are no ugly ducklings in this family. The Peabodys are Rockefellers, Carnegies and Kennedys. It's easy to imagine that when their heads hit their goose-down pillows they pray: "Thank you, Lord, for my good luck and for making me a Peabody Duck."
___As you have realized, I've been thinking about this way too much. At first glance, it seems that life is just ducky for Peabody Ducks. Who wouldn't want to live in a plush penthouse? Who wouldn't want their duck prints on the sidewalk in front of the hotel? Who wouldn't want a life of luxury?
___And yet, is it possible that Peabody Ducks are missing out? What if, after awhile, ducks cease to be impressed by chandeliers, the grand piano and splashing in the same fountain, even one carved from Italian marble, every day? What if they feel like sitting ducks? Maybe as they line up for the Sousa march, they wish they weren't just another duck in a row. What if the duckiest life is seeing new sights, finding long-forgotten lakes and heading into the wild blue yonder? Why would you want to waddle, even on a red carpet, when you can fly?
___Brett Younger is pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth.
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