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A new look at everyday heroes

November 27, 2001

It's The Pitts
By Lee Pitts

The young son asked his father, "What should I be when I grow up?"

"Why not become a pro basketball player, make piles of money, drive cool cars, have all the pretty girls chase you and support your mom and pop in their old age?"

"Because I’m only 4 feet tall, dad, I can’t drive and I don’t like girls that much, remember? I’m serious, what should I become?"

"What do you want to be?"

"I want to be a hero, like a fireman, soldier, policeman or a paramedic."

"Those are lofty goals, son. Whatever happened to that idea that you wanted to be a rap star or pro wrestler?"

"Oh dad, that was last week. Besides that is all so fake. I’d rather be a soldier and fight real bad guys. It seems like a much more important job than being a rap singer."

"It is son, and I’m glad to hear you say you want to serve your country. Public service is a noble calling. Recent events have reminded us all that our future is only ensured when everyday heroes perform everyday deeds."

"And I sure hope they keep doing it, because mostly what I want to be when I grow up is alive. I was wondering, Dad, what did you want to be when you grew up?"

"Believe it or not, there was a time in my life, when I wondered, just like you, what I’d do with my life. Way back in those dark ages some of my friends wanted to become the next Mickey Mantle. He was a baseball player, you know? Others dreamed of becoming firemen or policemen. The girls wanted mostly to be teachers, mothers and nurse. As hard as this may be to believe, when I was a kid many youngsters dreamed of becoming president. I know that doesn’t seem like such a lofty goal now."

"I thin I’d rather be a heavy equipment operator."

"Nothing wrong with that, son, as long as you do it well, even when no one is watching. There are a lot of satisfying jobs in which you can become an everyday hero."

"Like farmers, teachers, doctors, nurses and postal workers?"

"That’s right, son. Just remember, great things are not always done by famous people. You don’t have to be rich, good-looking, super-strong or a perfect person to be a hero. All you have to do is be ready when it’s your turn. Heroes are usually just ordinary people going about their ordinary lives the best they know how. They go to work every day completing repetitive and routine chores because it’s their job and their responsibility. Like airplane pilots and stewardesses who crisscross this country not knowing what catastrophe might bring them down at any minute."

"Neither would I, son, but someone has to do it. We can’t all be ballplayers, movie stars, or talking heads on television."

"They may be famous, but that doesn’t make them heroes."

"That’s right, son."

"I want to be a real hero when I grow up."

"You can, my boy. We all can. We had forgotten that in this country until recently, when we discovered once again that common people with common faults are doing heroic things on a daily basis. I hope we never take these everyday heroes for granted ever again. I’m afraid these past few years we were looking in all the wrong places for our role models: in movies, sports, the White House or Congress, when the real heroes were right here with us the whole time, in our communities and in our own homes."

"You mean like parents?"

"I hope so, son. If we’ve learned anything lately, it is that all of us have an opportunity every day to be a hero to someone."