Today is Halloween. Tonight, people of all ages will be dressing up in costumes for parties and for trick or treating. Some people may choose to dress up as a hero. Some may choose to dress up to resemble an athlete who has achieved great fame and accolades for his or her physical abilities. Some may be rock stars or movie star personalities. I am sure that Spiderman, Batman and many other “superheroes” will show up at my door tonight.
If I were required to dress up as a hero, maybe I’d dress up like ****. (I’m not using her name – she’d be embarrassed.) You don’t know her. I worked with her at one time. **** had lots of trouble in school, and once told me that it was hard for her. She has trouble reading and writing – though not from the lack of trying. Other employees sometimes don’t like to work with her, “She’s too slow.” So then, why would I choose her as a hero to dress up as? Because she is a hero. She knows what others say about her, and it hurts her, but she comes to work every day. Every day, on time. She is willing to work late and to take on the yucky tasks if needed. She does her very best. Yes, I have seen her sweep the kitchen floor before and then marveled at how long it took her. But. When I looked closer I saw that she was sweeping under the refrigerator and in the corners. When she finished, the job was well done. She’s quiet and unassuming. She doesn’t complain. She doesn’t whine when something is hard, she rolls up her sleeves and gives it her complete focus and her best effort. I think that’s heroic. In our instantaneous world, in our culture of perfection and beauty, this woman doesn’t measure up. She’s considered substandard and below par by many. Too bad our culture and society won’t take a few minutes to see her. Really see her. We’d all be better people if we recognized and imitated her attitude and persistence and her kind effort as heroic as opposed to some overpaid actor in tights pretending to climb a skyscraper.
