The #mprraccoon is here to save us all
It’s a crazy world out there. Any sign of hope is a welcome reprieve from the onslaught of global news, no matter how small it may be. And, on Tuesday, 6/12/18, it was a small as one courageous raccoon from St. Paul, Minnesota.
Raccoon Power
The raccoon’s goals were much larger than itself, however, as she found herself hanging 23 stories over downtown from the side of UBS tower where we recently relocated our offices. Her epic journey started at the base of the building on Tuesday morning and, over the course of the day, she traveled over 200 feet along the side of the skyscraper with the type of confidence and style we all wish we could have when taking on seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
By the time she stopped for a nap on our windowsill, national platforms like Buzzfeed had picked up the story, and the story had become legend:
Though we, with some bias of course, still think our local coverage is best – special thanks to WCCO for the shout out. It’s not every day we get an international celebrity hanging out outside of our office window.
The little lady posed for photographs, clearly aware of its international impact, and her growing number of fans – many of whom were camped out at on the lawn across the street to cheer her on and keep an eye on her progress.
A Happy Ending
Around 2:30am on Wednesday morning, the raccoon finally arrived, triumphant, at the top of the building. There, she was safely captured and offered a tin of fancy feast and fresh water for her efforts. She has since been released back into the wild.
As the #mprraccoon returned to the ground safe and sound after its harrowing journey, the whole world let out a collective sigh of relief. This was about more than just the safety of one animal. It’s more than just a distraction in uncertain times: This is a greater story about tenacity. A story that reminds us that, no matter how bad things seem to be; no matter how tumultuous the political landscape may seem, how much suffering there is in the world, or how stressful our daily lives are, the bright eyes and twitching whiskers of one special raccoon can still bring us all together.
For a little while, at least.