Being someone's Superman

"What I do is based on powers we all have inside us; the ability to endure; the ability to love, to carry on, to make the best of what we have - and you don't have to be a ‘Superman' to do it." ~Christopher Reeve

Jamon lives in his own little fantasy world. And in his world Spiderman, Superman, Batman, and the Hulk really exist. Or at least they should as far as he's concerned. In fact, on more than one occasion he's said to me: "I just don't understand why Superman can't be real."

I've never had a good answer for that until today. And the answer is: He can. YOU can be Superman Jamon.

Today I stopped at Subway on my way out of town (yes, Kuna now has a Subway. We got a Les Schwab and a Walgreens too. It was a big month for our little town). Anyway, the Subway used to be a drive through coffee shop, so the dining room is really small. When I walked in there was only one other customer. Okay, there were three, but two boys were sharing one sandwich and the other boy brought his lunch with him. While the two sharing were waiting for their sandwich to be built, they were teasing the young man who brought his own. Now obviously they were friends so it wasn't like bullying....it was just good old fashioned tease- your -friend type of stuff.

I can see why because his lunch was a dried up hamburger patty, raw broccoli and plain noodles. Of course cold. They were saying things like: "Nice lunch. Did your Mommy make it for you?" and "ooohh delicious! I'm jealous that I'm stuck here eating Subway."

The young man was taking it well and at that moment I decided something. I was planning on ordering a footlong because they're only five bucks, but I wasn't really planning on eating the whole thing. I was hungry enough for about 8 or 9 inches but not 12. So, rather than cut the footlong in half, I had the girl cut me 3/4 and wrap up the other 1/4 separately. As I walked out of the restaurant I set the 1/4 sandwich at the table in front of the boy who brought his own lunch. I simply said: "Have a nice day" and walked out of the restaurant.

Before the door shut I heard one of the boys say: "Who. WAS. that?"

I heard Jamon's voice in my head saying "Who was that masked man?" and smiled to myself.

You see Jamon- you don't have to be able to fly, spin webs, use laser vision, or save the world from enemies to be a hero. That's not what people really want anyway.

They want to be cared for when they're sick, helped when they're in trouble, and they want a friend when they're lonely. There are opportunities to be heroic all around you every day. You just have to watch for them.

Now giving this kid some of my sandwich might not be heroic, but I guarantee I made his day. I bet I made his mother's day too because he was a pretty good lookin' kid and that sandwich had onions on it. Stay away girls! You're welcome mom.