Hero Career Guidance

As of midnight (GST – Grey Squirrel Time), the polls were closed with only 24 votes cast. The first obvious question was why the poor voter turn out. Where have all the Heroes and hero-wannabes gone! Are we turning into a society that are missing its heroes? Ah, this may be too deep to be getting into in the wee hours of the morning.

The clear winning category was for “Humanitarian Heroes”. Clearly 33% of the readers of this blog are bleeding heart Liberals. meggie, geewits, evalinn, cheryl and becky, I am so proud of you guys. You believe in sacrificing for the greater good. It’s because of people like you that I still have hope for the world. I was tempted to join your ranks but I made a list of my modest possessions and found that I was barely willing to sacrifice one-tenth of my possessions for the good of other people. So as you set off on your humanitarian missions, you’ll find me waving banners, cheering and giving you moral support and don’t worry, I’ll feed your cats while you are away. I am right behind you,.....way behind..... back home.

From one end to the other, nobody wanted to be a military or sports hero. How strange. Then who’s been watching the war programs on the History and Discovery Channels? And who’s been glued to the TV for the NBA finals, Super Bowl, Stanley Cup, F1 racing, Wimbeldon etc.? I am not ashamed. I admit I considered these categories when I was very young. I wanted to taste the blood and glory and it looked so safe. Only the bad guys died and the good guys only got flesh wounds and medals. At least that was what I learned from war movies until I watched M*A*S*H, which then showed me that the line between good and bad is not always clear, the soldiers who died had families and that war killed civilians too. Don’t get me wrong. I know we need soldiers as there are bad people and bad things out there but it just wasn’t for me.

Once I realized how bad violence was, I gave up my dream to be a military hero and would have settled for breaking teeth and bones as the best Rollerball player in the world. Unfortunately, I went instantly from scrawny weakling to pudgy couch potato with no time clocked in the “jock” zone. I was therefore frustrated but could not pursue this goal.

Scientific Heroes and Cultural Heroes are tied with 17% of the vote. It seems as if the results represent the eternal war of reason and emotion; of mind and of heart. So proxima, kat, janice and mago feel the need to save the world through science, logic and intellect but as top cat, several anonymous voters and all good artists know, cold science needs to be tempered with heart and soul, society has always needed to see their reflection and seek there direction from the artists, our cultural heroes. Scientists invent the atomic bomb, politicions invent detente but the flower children led by the likes of Joan Baez and Bob Dillon stopped the war.

I clearly was a Vulcan who was abducted and raised on Earth. This explains my large ears and my predeliction towards Science and having Spock as my pin-up model in my extreme youth. Then I discovered the movie Dr. Strangelove and the wonderful music of the 60's and have been in conflict since. I did study science and saw how hard it is to make a name for yourself in science today. All the easy discoveries and inventions have already been done. Also in my field, the best one can hope for was to have a disease named after you.

Josie and michael want to be leaders. They will have to try harder as they got only 8% of the vote. They believe they can change the world for the better. I applaud them for trying to make a difference within the system. I don't know much about how josie wants to change the world but I know michael's platform and all I can say is that cubicle dwellers rejoice and office managers run in fear! Politics is not for me. I need to blame someone for the mess the world is in and politicians come handy. There are politicians that I do respect but I can count them without using all my fingers and toes.

That leaves the Business Heroes and the Explorers/Discoverers tied with 13% of the vote each. Heiresschild and an anonymous voter want to be business heroes and return part of their success to the community. This is perfectly in line with the new business concept of Corporate Social Responsibility. Well done. I'd make a poor businessman with the operative word being "poor". I don't want to be in the rat race cause the winner is still a rat. I generalise, of course, some corporations are showing the way with better practices and benefits to local communities.

Squirrel and I are the only two who chose to be Explorer/Discoverers. Only Mrs. Wolfe almost swayed to our side but at the last moment decided to be more human. What can I say? It's a squirrel thing. "To go where no nut has gone before!" I admit that there is not a lot left undiscovered but it's enough. I just love to discover new places, things, animals, plants and cultures. The work never goes stale at all cause something new is always just around the corner. It's nice to have hero work that you also enjoy. That makes it my number one choice.

Thanks for playing the heroes game. Before I go, a quick mention to a few who refused to vote. These are the anti-heroes. They have important roles to play in modern literature and movie making. Their models include reluctant hero Jackie Chan, Batman and maybe Forrest Gump. They make the world a better place whether they want to or not. Perhaps all of us should just try, even to be anti-heroes.