As a lifelong fan of superhero comics and superhero media, in general, I like to think I appreciate heroes more than most. I understand what makes the characters I read about in comics heroes. I also understand what makes people in the real world heroes.
There are the doctors who work during crises and pandemics.
There are the firefighters, soldiers, police officers, and EMT’s who work during disasters.
There are the scientists and researchers working on treatments to deadly diseases.
Those people are all real-world heroes who we should celebrate every chance we get. Our society would not be where it is right now without them.
But sometimes, you don’t have to have the skills, qualifications, and degrees to be a hero on that level. It is still possible to be a hero on a smaller, more local level. To prove that point, I’d like to highlight an example of a hero who did something small for me and my family during a difficult time. But this seemingly minor act left a big impression.
Like most heroic acts, this occurred during a crisis. A historic hurricane was bearing down on my hometown. It wasn’t going to hit us directly, but it promised to be a once-in-a-century storm the likes of which my area had not experienced in a long time. This is an area where you can count all the hurricanes that hit us on one hand. This just happened to be a perfect storm of conditions that put us in its path.
Since some members of my family have experience dealing with hurricanes, we prepared as best we could. However, when the storm came, it not surprisingly knocked out power out for an extended period. That was a problem on many levels. But what compounded that problem is the food we’d originally prepared was not usable for reasons I don’t care to divulge.
So, that left us in a difficult position. We needed some food. But not a lot of restaurants were open. However, we did manage to call this one pizza place that somehow remained open. And much to our delight, they were willing to deliver two large pizza to us in this storm.
So, we placed our order. And the task of driving through this historic storm to deliver our food fell upon this college-aged guy who probably would’ve preferred to stay home that day. But, like all heroes, he stepped up when the time came. He did not hesitate in the face of such an arduous challenge. He drove his undersized Buick through high winds, heavy downpours, and booming thunder to make that delivery.
My family and I were even wondering if he would make it. If he didn’t, then I don’t think anyone of us would’ve blamed him.
But he showed up to make that delivery. He even showed up on time and under 30 minutes. This brave young man delivered two large pizzas to our house while we were without power, air conditioning, or entertainment of any kind. Needless to say, we thanked him profusely and tipped him generously. I still don’t doubt he would’ve preferred to not be working that day. But I’m glad he did.
Delivering pizzas may not seem inherently heroic. It’s a thankless job that most of us don’t think twice about anymore. But when someone steps up to deliver our food during a historic storm when so many others wouldn’t, that’s not just dedication to a job. That’s heroic, plain and simple.
So, to that brave pizza delivery guy who navigated a historic storm that day, on behalf of my family and all those who love pizza and hate hurricanes, I sincerely thank you. You are a true hero in my eyes.
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