I never planned to be a superhero. I was just on my way to pick up my daughter from Band when I took a wrong turn and ended up at the back of a Halloween parade behind a Funeral Hearse that was shooting flames with “Monster Mash” blaring from its speakers. I tried to get out of there, but the traffic was so slow and the crowd was so thick that I had no choice but to follow along.
That’s when I realized that my car was attracting a lot of attention. It was a black sedan with a Batman license plate. Apparently, the kids in the parade thought I was the real deal. I tried to ignore the kids and look straight ahead, hoping that the parade would end soon. But it didn’t. They started waving to me and yelling “Hi Batman”. Some of them even threw candy at me. They waved to me with such enthusiasm and admiration that I couldn’t help but wave back. The more I waved, the more they cheered. The more they cheered, the more I waved. It was a vicious cycle. I could hear the parade announcer saying something about a surprise guest appearance by Batman.
I was stuck as the last car in the parade for what seemed like an eternity. Then something happened that changed my perspective. As I was passing by a group of kids, one of them ran up to me and said:
“Hi Batman. I love you! You are my hero.”
I looked at the kid, and he smiled at me with such admiration and gratitude that I almost cried. He didn’t care that I wasn’t really Batman. He just cared that I was there for him. He made me feel like a hero and suddenly, I felt a surge of power. I felt like the real Batman driving the Batmobile. So I rolled down my window and in my best Batman voice shouted, “Hello, citizens of Gotham!” and “Justice never sleeps!”. The kids went wild. They cheered louder than ever.
As the parade came to an end, I realized that I had accidentally become part of something that I never intended to be a part of. And also realized that it was one of the funniest and best accidents that had ever happened to me. I felt like I had brought joy to those kids’ lives and that was all that mattered.
Although that happened a few years ago, little kids waiting for their buses and those I pass along the street still wave and shout with joy and enthusiasm at me and my car this very day. “I’m Batman!”
