Heroes

No, this is not about the television show. Please don't think it is. If you came here under the mistaken impression that this was about the television show, haha, I've trapped you now! Your click-through will only cause me to swell in size! You cannot stop me! I am invincible!

Sorry, it got away from me for a minute.

Since I spent so much time at the beginning fooling around, I'll try to keep this short. I just want to know what happened to heroes?

It's not an idle question. Why are all our heroes so crappy these days? I don't mean superheroes, I mean the people we elevate as heroic in our society.

A word to the wise: the Congress does not give out Medals of Honor (which is what they are called, for those of you who haven't learned that yet) for preforming your duty up to standards. They don't award medals for adequacy.

No, wait, they do. But not the kind of medals with the cachet of heroism. They give out Good Conduct Medals for adequate service. But to be a hero, you have to go beyond the call of duty (no, I'm not talking about the video game either). You have to take it to the next level. You have to do more than we pay you for.

So for someone to call themselves a hero for doing what they were supposed to, that's lazy. That's false. That besmirches the heroism of every single other hero. Heroism isn't about doing your job.

And dying? Since when did dying make you a hero? It's a classic concept: die for [cause goes here] and you'll be a hero. The rejoinder is just as classic: you'll be a dead hero. So why does dying for anything automatically make you a hero?

I'm not saying that people who die can't be heroes, and you can die heroically. But it's not the only way, or even the best way, to become one. Sometimes it's the easiest way, but that's not what heroes are made of. They aren't supposed to be about the easy way. Sometimes it's more heroic to live, even if it's more difficult.

I'm starting to sound like a recruitment poster, so I'll stop now. But consider what I'm saying. It's more difficult than it seems at first, because we like to elevate people in status simply because they were victims, or because they did good things. But if those good things were what they were supposed to be doing, or if their death was entirely unrelated to anything other than dying, they just aren't heroes. Doesn't make them bad people. Just not heroes.

And yes, I'm talking about your brother who was killed in Iraq or your mother who was killed on 9/11 or your cousin who is a fire fighter. I'm blasting your personal hero. Feel free to hate me for it.