A Gesture of Goodwill and Dreaded Responsibility Lurking with it
Why does doing a good deed seem to lead towards being exploited? Can’t I just do something nice and be done with it?
The phrase there are no heroes is a wonderful illustration for the point I’m about to make. Eventually most of us do something somewhat selfless (sure we may have motives, but they’re usually weak). We walk the dog, help someone move, volunteer, whatever. Afterwards, people may come to expect this deed of us. They remind us to walk the dog, recommend us to other people to help move, volunteer organizations send cards asking for more hours or money. This is when the world loses their chance at a hero; either we give in because we have a sense of responsibility or we ignore it. If I decide not to help, I’m the one crippling the nonprofit’s funds, getting the dogs fat and bored, and causing someone moving to have a bad day. My gesture of goodwill has become a means to measure the world. If I do not continue to help, anything that happens afterwards is my fault.
So what is a hero? In a way, he or she is a god. Not God, all powerful. But god as in Athena. They answer prayers, but specific ones. Batman takes out criminals. Superman can help with natural disasters. Wonder Woman has great tits. We ask these heroes to help us out in specific areas we generally don’t excel in or don’t want to get our hands dirty with and often at the last second for drama. Superman stops a tidal wave before it hits the city, Batman knocks out the guy after he puts the knife to your throat, and Wonder Woman arrives just when the cable goes out. When that hero doesn’t help out, they’re dicks. When a hero becomes a dick, we still expect them to do stuff for us, we just aren’t as grateful. Volunteers and other do-gooders are dicks.
A sense of responsibility is nothing more than a sense. Like any sense, we can filter them to ignore or pick up certain things. People who need volunteers attempt to adjust our filters to see their organization. Often with postcards, emails, and terrible stories that could have been prevented by volunteers. Suddenly, doing a good deed isn’t even possible, it’s just something expected from me. I am no longer capable of being a hero in this regard, only a dick. Batman is hated by the cops, because Batman is messing with their authority, doesn’t have to answer to superiors, and makes the cops look bad. Yet, the cops also realize he’s better at dealing with super villains and doesn’t require approval. Batman is a dick, but he can get the job done with no cost to you.
Like Batman, I’m a dick. I make teachers look good or bad based on my volunteer time with children and they tolerate me based on how easy I make their job. My actions become less a reflection of myself as I continue volunteering, I’m just doing what is expected of me. I’m stuck in a role and I’m prevented from doing good. The alternative, I could just stop doing it and be a dick. It’s true, there are no heroes.
So why aren’t the police or teachers, the people who work in specific roles like a god or Batman, aren’t regarded in the same way. Simple, they have superiors. Batman doesn’t act because he has to, but because he wants/needs to. Athena doesn’t ask Zeus before she curses or blesses a town, she just does it. Cops and teachers are on the clock, volunteers and Batman just happen to be there. Granted, people often hate teachers and cops, but for different reasons. Generally, people feel these employees aren’t doing their job to a certain level of excellence or they misuse their authority. Volunteers don’t have authority. Batman doesn’t either. He can’t tell us what to do, if he did, that would make him a villain and he’d have to enforce his rule.
But he doesn’t.
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