Today's Superhero

Being a Superhero was never easy. As Abby once posted on Instagram, “Being positive is fucking hard work.”

Now things were so much harder than before. It’s easy to smile and cheer up someone’s day with a kind word. When you have this infectious energy and positivity every time you step outside your front door, everyone wants to be around you. They all want a piece of you.

But then COVID was suddenly upon the world. People suddenly feared for their life and the life of their loved ones. They were afraid to leave their own homes. Hidden behind their eyes when they did venture out into the now malignant world was shear terror. Fear of touching anything. Fear of interacting with anyone.

Fear of the air itself, because of what it hides at a scale so small, you don’t even see the sickness coming.

Most of us grew up being afraid of the dark, but what we really feared was what was lurking in that darkness that we couldn’t see. We outgrew those fears as we got older, realizing that there was no monster hiding underneath our bed or in the closet. We went about our lives forgetting this fear that we came to realize we had imagined all along.

And then COVID descended upon us and we realized that those childhood fears weren’t so wrong. Now instead of fearing the dark and what we couldn’t see, we feared everything around us AND that which we couldn’t even see. The small child inside us that thought it was grown is suddenly terrified once more, this time of a real monster that we can’t even lay eyes on. A monster that creeps up behind us the moment we let our guard down, threatening to consume us or those closest to us.

We ask ourselves now, “should I go in there?”, “is he coughing because he has it?” and “who else has touched that can of soup?”

Knowing full well that at every corner we turn, behind every door, and on every inanimate surface, it could be hiding from us, unseen and yet so deadly.

As a well educated, intelligent woman, entrepreneur and mother Abby knew all these fears well.

On any normal day, she would greet these people at the door and instantly make them feel like family. They would know that they were in good hands, and would have a warm meal, and then just as quickly, and without so much as a second thought, all of these people, one by one, in couples or in parties, would leave and go about their day.

But this was no normal day. COVID had made itself known in every corner of the world and now those same people often would not even step outside their home. And even when they did, how could you comfort them?

This was the dilemma that Abby now faced. She sighed a deep sigh knowing she was about to take the weight up the world upon her shoulders. Knowing that those in her employ risked their lives coming to work, to help her, to earn a paycheck and to make a difference in the life of every person bold enough to walk through the front door of their establishment.

Then she took a deep breathe, knowing once more that she was doing the right thing. People needed inspiration. People needed assurance. And people needed her super power to help them get through the day.

Abby selected a bright mask from those hanging by the front door, grabbed her keys from another hook, stepped outside her house and locked the door behind her. She climbed into her Toyota, a veritable tank of an SUV. It wasn’t as new and fancy as most other vehicles on the road, but it was reliable and made her feel safe. She loved the fine mixture of the old and the new. Who wouldn’t love power steering, after all? And at the same time, she didn’t need all the fancy computers that now plagued modern transportation. She could work on this vehicle herself when needed, because it was that simple.

As she drove the short drive to work, she quietly contemplated the world, while mentally preparing herself for a day that could be construed by most as tiresome or draining. Abby didn’t think of it that way. She couldn’t. She wouldn’t allow herself to do so. Besides, she always knew she had her superpower to depend on and much like Superman’s strength that never failed him, she knew her super power only got stronger and only made her stronger the more she exercised it.

Arriving at work, she donned her mask, as all people should at this time. Then she stepped out of her vehicle, locked it and made her way to the building. Unlocking the front door she immediately set about her day. So much was done the night before, but so much remained to be done in the morning.

Abby set her things down on an empty table then went about checking on every person on her team. One might call it typical pleasantries that she asked them all, but somehow when Abby spoke to you, you knew she really cared. How are you doing? Are you feeling okay? Are we short anything? Do I need to make a quick run to the store to grab anything? Somewhere along the way she would check their temperature with the handheld infrared thermometer they kept handy.

Once she knew the team was all well, Abby started to fill the vases on each table with a tiny bit of water and then placed the very flowers she had cut from her own garden that morning into these vases. Pretty flowers made some people feel better and she knew it.

She then set about writing the menu of specials for the day. Everyone liked a surprise and even if they didn’t order it, everyone like a choice and a little variety.

As the food was close to ready, Abby took the opportunity to carefully sample a few things. With a gloved hand and a spoon that would be promptly set in the dirty silverware tray, she sampled the soup of the day. Spicy and flavorful, without being overwhelming. Then she tasted a gluten free cookie to ensure that it was just right. Being careful to maintain a safe distance from the dessert chef, she talked and nodded approvingly.

The moment had arrived. They were set to open. A few eager customers had already lined up outside.

Abby adjusted her mask slightly and then once more washed her hands. Then pulling on a pair of clean gloves, she unlocked and opened the front door.

Calling upon her super power as she would so often do through the course of the day, she smiled underneath her mask, a smile that no person would see that day. Summoning her inner secret super hero power, she unleashed it upon the world.

“Welcome,” she warmly greeted her guests. A phrase she would utter many times throughout the day. The warmth and friendliness of her voice; the positive, “I’ve never met a stranger” way this single word expressed itself from her smiling lips was her super power in a time when everyone needed a little cheering up. She might not be able to fly, or stop a moving train with her bare hands, but her super power was the ability to instantly make others feel at home. And for a brief moment, while her guests sat down for a bit of normalcy, in a quiet way that they themselves so often overlooked, Abby knew in her heart that she would continue to user this super power for the good of everyone possible for the rest of that day, and those days to follow.