"You're Not Superman Yet"
Overloaded with writing about politics and philosophy at the moment. Had to blow off some steam.
This is a true story. Yesterday I was walking down the sidewalk to go to a review session for one of my finals. As I do on occasion, I was wearing a Superman shirt. As I was about to cross the street, a rather deranged looking man stopped in front of me and said, “You’re not Superman yet.” Now, as best I can figure, there are at least three puzzling things about this statement:
1. What was his tip off? Was it the fact that I was wearing a coat, and presumably someone who can withstand fire and ice would not need a jacket on a chilly day? Well I feel it was a pretty nice-looking coat; maybe Superman would just want to show off his style once in a while. Perhaps it was the fact that instead of a cape and red underoos I was wearing jeans and a pair of chucks? It was a Friday, how does he know Superman isn’t just kicking back before the weekend? It’s possible that he noticed because I was walking, and it seems like if you had the ability to fly you would just use it to get wherever you need it to, but even the big blue boyscout needs a change of pace once in a while. Something let him know that I was not the real Superman, and I wish I could figure out what.
2. Why did he feel compelled to tell me that I was not Superman? Was he to try to help me in some way? Perhaps he thought that I was under the misguided impression that I really am Superman, and that were he not to warn me, I would try to fly off a building or lift a very heavy object and be horribly crushed. It’s possible that he thought he was doing me a service by letting me know, so I didn’t try to use superpowers I didn’t have. That would be thoughtful. On the other hand, maybe it was out of anger. Perhaps it was the tone of “how dare you impersonate the great superman, you’re not fooling me! All these other people may believe you, but I know your secret!” I suppose there are some sharp folks out there and you just cannot pull the wool over their eyes. I’m just not sure what motivated him to make this pronouncement.
3. Why did he say “yet”? Is it an expression of confidence in my ability to become Superman someday? Was it his way of saying, “I believe in you Andrew, don’t rest on your laurels now, but you’re this close!” Sometimes it’s nice to stop and support people in their daily endeavors. On the other hand, maybe he was really saying “yet” in the sense of “there’s still time for me to stop you!” Either way, the “yet” expresses some faith that eventually I will become Superman, and maybe he had some insight about how I will one day achieve this.
Alas, after that brief, very loaded statement, he ran off, and left me in this state of confusion. Go off into the night, fair prophet of things to come, for your words have been my kryptonite. ~Fin.~
This is a true story. Yesterday I was walking down the sidewalk to go to a review session for one of my finals. As I do on occasion, I was wearing a Superman shirt. As I was about to cross the street, a rather deranged looking man stopped in front of me and said, “You’re not Superman yet.” Now, as best I can figure, there are at least three puzzling things about this statement:
1. What was his tip off? Was it the fact that I was wearing a coat, and presumably someone who can withstand fire and ice would not need a jacket on a chilly day? Well I feel it was a pretty nice-looking coat; maybe Superman would just want to show off his style once in a while. Perhaps it was the fact that instead of a cape and red underoos I was wearing jeans and a pair of chucks? It was a Friday, how does he know Superman isn’t just kicking back before the weekend? It’s possible that he noticed because I was walking, and it seems like if you had the ability to fly you would just use it to get wherever you need it to, but even the big blue boyscout needs a change of pace once in a while. Something let him know that I was not the real Superman, and I wish I could figure out what.
2. Why did he feel compelled to tell me that I was not Superman? Was he to try to help me in some way? Perhaps he thought that I was under the misguided impression that I really am Superman, and that were he not to warn me, I would try to fly off a building or lift a very heavy object and be horribly crushed. It’s possible that he thought he was doing me a service by letting me know, so I didn’t try to use superpowers I didn’t have. That would be thoughtful. On the other hand, maybe it was out of anger. Perhaps it was the tone of “how dare you impersonate the great superman, you’re not fooling me! All these other people may believe you, but I know your secret!” I suppose there are some sharp folks out there and you just cannot pull the wool over their eyes. I’m just not sure what motivated him to make this pronouncement.
3. Why did he say “yet”? Is it an expression of confidence in my ability to become Superman someday? Was it his way of saying, “I believe in you Andrew, don’t rest on your laurels now, but you’re this close!” Sometimes it’s nice to stop and support people in their daily endeavors. On the other hand, maybe he was really saying “yet” in the sense of “there’s still time for me to stop you!” Either way, the “yet” expresses some faith that eventually I will become Superman, and maybe he had some insight about how I will one day achieve this.
Alas, after that brief, very loaded statement, he ran off, and left me in this state of confusion. Go off into the night, fair prophet of things to come, for your words have been my kryptonite. ~Fin.~