ATTN: Spencer
Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 10:39 am
Okay, Spencer, look. You don’t have to do anything. I’m going to say that right up front. You weren’t rocketed to Earth from a dying planet. You weren’t given a super soldier serum by the American military. You can’t climb walls or pop claws or any of those other things that would make putting yourself in the line of fire a little less risky. You have absolutely no responsibility or obligation to help a bunch of strangers when that means putting yourself in the line of fire and possibly giving up your life, figuratively and literally. Choosing to do nothing does not make you a bad person, and anyone that says otherwise needs to step back and honestly ask themselves what they would do in that situation.
Here’s the thing. Nobility comes from doing the right thing, even when it causes you risk. The greater the risk, the nobler the act is considered. Do you know what makes a hero? A hero isn’t a cape and some tights and a big insignia. A hero is someone who sees that they could easily back away and preserve themselves and their own world, but plunge into the breach anyway out of nothing more than the desire to help the innocents. I hate to bring this up as I’m sure it’s a touchy subject for some, but the firefighters and rescue workers and everyone else that ran into the World Trade Center to help people get out were heroes. The people on the third plane were heroes. These people had no indestructibility. They had no healing factor or spider-agility.
They had families. Friends. Homes. Whole lives, branching out and interweaving with other lives in an immense tapestry of humanity. And in the blink of an eye, they put all that aside and rushed to the aid of their fellow man, even knowing they could die, even knowing they could become ill from all the debris in the air. Good men and women stepped up and proved that no matter how cynical one is, there is still something great and fiery and good in humanity.
It’s your choice. You aren’t any less of a good man for choosing not to help. But choosing to help would make you something much more. Choosing to help would make you a hero. Just think about that, Spencer.
Here’s the thing. Nobility comes from doing the right thing, even when it causes you risk. The greater the risk, the nobler the act is considered. Do you know what makes a hero? A hero isn’t a cape and some tights and a big insignia. A hero is someone who sees that they could easily back away and preserve themselves and their own world, but plunge into the breach anyway out of nothing more than the desire to help the innocents. I hate to bring this up as I’m sure it’s a touchy subject for some, but the firefighters and rescue workers and everyone else that ran into the World Trade Center to help people get out were heroes. The people on the third plane were heroes. These people had no indestructibility. They had no healing factor or spider-agility.
They had families. Friends. Homes. Whole lives, branching out and interweaving with other lives in an immense tapestry of humanity. And in the blink of an eye, they put all that aside and rushed to the aid of their fellow man, even knowing they could die, even knowing they could become ill from all the debris in the air. Good men and women stepped up and proved that no matter how cynical one is, there is still something great and fiery and good in humanity.
It’s your choice. You aren’t any less of a good man for choosing not to help. But choosing to help would make you something much more. Choosing to help would make you a hero. Just think about that, Spencer.