A Table with Cooper Wilson

The coffee steamed on the table as Gary anxiously awaited his interview. He was told to meet at the coffee shop at noon sharp. It was now 12:14 and 16 seconds according to his digital clock. The seconds were never looked at before but tonight every detail was noticed by Gary. His fingers ran across his notebook, looking at what he already wrote…1

“Call him a poet, call him a singer, or call him the bridge between the classic rock generation and our current mindless pop generation. Regardless of what you call him, his name is Cooper Wilson and he has become the latest craze of the underground rock revolution. His lyrics speak to a generation of pot smoking, booze drinking, violence loving, sex-crazed teenagers. Perhaps there is more to this man, or perhaps he is another mindless drone that will scrape the top of the charts and fall just as fast, from the charts and from our memory.”2

It was a fantastic introduction and he was hoping the interview would be just as good. It was after he read this, that he noticed an unshaven man in a wool jacket. He wore a knitted cap over his long hair, accompanied by his aviators, blocking his eyes from the clouds in the sky. He strolled through the coffee shop as if he saw no one else there. He looked at Gary and let out a huge sigh. He has probably been through interview after interview and was not interested in the next typical tape recorder that he’d have to talk into.3

“Mr. Wilson, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for coming.”4

“Cooper, man. Just call me Cooper.”5

Gary slapped the tape recorder on the table and hits play.6

“Okay . Cooper. First of all where do you get your relaxing sound and soothing lyrics?”7

“First of all I get the sound from strumming a guitar and I get the lyrics from opening my mind. If I got either from anywhere else then that would be stealing music and there ain’t no point in doing that. Second of all, quit buttering me up, pal.” Gary looked confused. “ I saw what you wrote down there on your notebook when I sat down, so I know what you think of me…”8

“Mr. Wils- Cooper. I didn’t mean anything by it…”9

“Don’t worry about it kid, we’re all entitled to our opinions our judgments. I don’t mind at all.”10

Gary, very nervous, tried to pull himself together, “Alright, well. I guess it’s not secret now that you haven’t really impressed me, but how do you feel that your music has inspired your youthful audience.”11

“You mean the pot smokers and the violence lovers?”12

“Yes.” Gary, still not over the confrontation, was somewhat uncomfortable.13

“Honestly, I couldn’t care less.”14

He stepped back into his element, “But that’s your purpose, isn’t it?”15

“My purpose? My purpose? What the hell you talkin’ about, man. I don’t have a purpose. Nobody had a purpose. People don’t have a purpose. We don’t have purposes. We have missions.”16

“Missions? Could you elaborate?”17

Cooper took a drag from his cigarette seeming bothered by this request, “A purpose is something that we naturally must follow and have no choice in following. But as human’s we have a choice. That is what makes a purpose a mission. Each person on this earth has a mission, but it is their choice if they want to follow that particular mission. Those who follow their missions are considered heroes. No matter how small these missions are, if you choose to fulfill your mission then you are a hero, at the very least you’re a hero to yourself.”18

“Have you fulfilled your…mission?”19

Cooper paused for he barely knows the answer to this question, “I don’t know. Hell, I don’t even know what my mission is. We never know what our mission is until after we accomplished it….or failed to accomplish it.”20

“When is that, exactly?”21

“When’s what?”22

“When do you specifically find out what your mission is?”23

“Well…” He paused to try to remember my name.24

“Gary”25

“Yeah, Gary. Well, Gary, that’s impossible to determine. There’s no specific date or age when we reach this enlightening event, but that’s a good thing. We should not await this event. For by the time we reach this event then it’s too late.”26

“Then how are we to fulfill our mission?” Cooper began to laugh. Gary’s only response was to uncomfortably smile, “Did I miss something?”27

“Shit, man. You are taking this way to seriously, man. You just gotta chill sometimes.”28

“Well, I don’t want to find out too late that I didn’t accomplish my mission in life.”29

“So what? So you didn’t accomplish your mission. What’s the big deal? So you don’t become a hero? If we’re all heroes then heroes won’t mean anything. They won’t stand out.”
He grew very perplexed, “Cooper, I’m having a very hard time following you.”30

Cooper lights another cigarette, “Then don’t.”31

He was shocked to hear this, “Don’t?”32

“Yeah don’t.”33

“But Cooper, what’s the point in having a view on life if no one understands it?”34

“What’s the point in having a view on life, if all you care about is who believes in that view? You’ve got your own eyes, own ears, own mind. Then it’s your responsibility to have your own views on life. What does it matter if anyone else agrees with you? As long as you agree with yourself you don’t need to agree with anyone else. You say to me that you don’t follow me? Then don’t follow me. Lead me.”35

“Lead you?”36

“Lead me.” Cooper rose from his chair and began to head for the door. “Listen, Gary. I’d love to stay but I gotta roll.” 37

Before he leaves, Gary got up from the table, “Cooper, wait!”38

Cooper turned around took another drag from his cigarette, “Listen, no offense and I know you don’t have enough there to write a legit article but I just don’t feel like wasting my time answering mindless questions, for an article that I’m not gonna read, read by people I’m not gonna see, whose opinions I don’t care about.” He turns for the door but Gary grabs his shoulder.39

“This isn’t about the article. Believe me Cooper, you gave me enough information to write two articles.” Gary paused to try to find the words, “Listen, my life is kind of in the shitter write now.”40

Cooper interrupted with a smile, “Of course your life’s in the shitter, man. Everyone’s life is in the shitter. If it wasn’t in the shitter, it wouldn’t be your life you were talking about.”41

“Yeah, but I mean….Do you maybe wanna talk again.” 42

Cooper turned back his head annoyed, “Listen man, I’m not interested in becoming anyone’s project, ya understand?”43

Gary tried to clarify, “No No, nothing like that, man I swear. When we meet, I’ll leave the tape recorder in the car.”44

Cooper dropped his shades to get a good look at Gary. His eyes gazed at Gary in a suspicious manner and he said nothing. Gary decided that in order for this to work he had to make the move, “Here’s my card. Just think about it, please.” Cooper doesn’t say another word. He took the card and then walked out of the café.45

Gary turned back toward his table. He didn’t know why he gave Cooper his card. They are on two ends of the spectrum. He just felt that where he was in life, he could learn a lot from Cooper Wilson. He didn’t expect him to call but hopes that he would. He ripped out the only written page in his notebook and threw it in the trash. 46