Unhelpful

The update “Fat People Suck” brings up a broader issue in our wonderful society today.

Everyone’s a Hero

You see it on the news all the time, survivors of tragedies are always “heroes”. People who overcome obstacles, either of societal making or those imposed upon them by genetic chance, are always “heroes”.

Perhaps some examples might be in order for those who wish to label everything as “heroic” would be in order.

High school shooting: The girl who survives because she hid in a locker was not a “hero”. Such a feat might earn her the label “resourceful”, “lucky”, or “a quick thinker”, but luck does not a hero make.

Random shooting: The kid who gets shot in the chest and manages to survive the experience after months of grueling physical therapy and general recovery is not a “hero”. Again, “lucky” or “determined” might be an obvious choice.

The Cerebral Palsy sufferer who gets a college degree: Yet again, what the hell? There are so many better words than “hero” that we can use here. “Determined”, “hard-working”, “driven”, etc.

The sports star: Now how is doing your job and getting overpaid for it heroic? I’m certainly not suggesting that you should reject any position in life where you’re overpaid - far from it - but being able to score 30 points in a basketball game, getting paid $20 million dollars to do it and then donating $10,000 to a local AIDS charity doesn’t make you a hero, though it might make you media-savvy.

Let’s not make a virtue out of everything. It’s like calling an overweight person “gravitationally challeneged”, as if it were some sort of mark of greatness in and of itself. Using today’s colorful language of inclusion, we could refer to anyone in “hero” terms. Perhaps a sexually promiscuous girl could be “heroic” for being “abstinence challenged”. Perhaps a boorish wife-beating scumbag could be “heroic” for being “compassion challenged”.

Call me “politeness challenged”, but in my opinion the label “hero” only applies to those who put themselves on the line for the safety or betterment of others with little concern for their own safty or reward.

But what would I know? I’m just a hero. We all are, now.