While on patrol... excuse me while I was on my way to the super market I found something that troubled me. On my stealthy approach to the front door.... while looking out for ninjas and such, I saw a young girl sitting on the ground next to the ATM machine crying. I stopped for a moment and was filled with an emotion of what I can only call disgust for the human race on a whole. I watched people walk by her in a speedy fashion, not even looking at her and pretending she was not there.
I walked up and sat down next to her on the ground and asked her what was wrong? She at first seemed a little startled.. but after I broke the ice with a classic from the Bugs Bunny collection "Did you sit on a tack?" she laughed though her tear stained eyes and started talking to me.
Her name was Elise and she was 15 years old and ran away from home three weeks ago. She had a fight with her parents and felt they did not want her anymore. Her debit card was declined and she was hungry and had no place to go. I am not sure how long we sat there and talked as time was meaningless to me at this point. I took her to the Subway that was adjacent to the supermarket and bought her a meatball sub and a diet soda with some chips.
As she ate we continued to talk, the fight she had was over texting on the phone with a boy.... again my inside RLSV flared up as what a pointless and meaningless argument to have with your child that the end result would cause her to run away. I could not tell if she had any physical violence applied to her being very dirty and ragged looking being on the street for three weeks. I called my intern Sarah to come and assist me.
We took her back to her place and Sarah cleaned her up and talked to her... in some situations women can feel more secure with each other then with men. After finding out she was not abused we asked if we could talk to her parents? She was still very upset with the situation but agreed. After a 8 minute conversation with the mother, who had been scared to death for the last three weeks and had filed a missing persons report, we drove Elise back home.
Both parents were crying and happy to have their child back again. I spoke to the father in private offering the advice to not sweat the small things in life and to remember what it was like when he was that age less the technology. Sarah and I were both thanked many times and hugged. Elise also thanked us for helping her. I smiled and said that is what Super Villains do. She smiled and laughed at me.. she said I was no villain I was her angle... I forced back my tears and cried on the way back home.
And what have you done today RLSH? Have you found your magical rape victim in that alley yet? Worked on your digital logo? Having fun in your upcoming reality shows to "inspire" us little people? Loose the costumes and start being real human beings... no this will not get you on television or the fame you long for.... but you might actually start making a difference in this world.
I know I have just returned from my hiatus... but I am taking another break again. As I feel you the RLSH.. are becoming a lost cause.
Very good work, PK. In the tradition of Lord Malignance's challenge of 'What Can Villainy Do Better' (...than the RLSH), I congratulate you on an indeed triumphant victory. Best wishes, Evil sir.
ReplyDeleteI read this and was going to walk away but....
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, if you did this then congratulations and well done.
However, benevolence is not something that is monopolized. What you did in no way eradicates or diminishes similiar things RLSH / costumed activists have done in the past. Do not ask the RLSH/costumed activists to lose their costumes unless your brethen are willing to do the same.
Lay down the hate if you have the strength to do so. Without doing so...what really changes?
But PK did this without the aide of any costume or gimmick, and as far as the rest of us go, other than Agent Wraith, I'm the only other active Villain here that wears a mask and I haven't even picked it up in four months now. Besides, we only 'mask-up' when doing blog posts, so the rest of our days are done without costumes of any sort.
ReplyDeletePK, thank you for sharing this story. Elise indeed found an angel in you that helped her get back home. I hope that her story when she tells others will encourage them not to run away, but to stay at home and face their fears and doubts.. especially at that age. I shudder to think of what would have happened to her if you had not found her.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you for offering sound advice about bringing in a female friend to help in such a delicate situation. It's always best for the reasons you stated, and also for the safety of all involved. It could have gone very badly if her father, being protective, had misunderstood your motives.
The argument against the costumes is an old one, but also not as all encompassing as it sounds. There are rlsh that do much good work with or without the suits and masks, and that's not really at issue. Many rlsv's have come to terms that many rlsh's indeed do a lot of good in suit. It's the dislike of those who are married to the idea that they _must_ wear the suit to do good. A sentiment that both sides are always striving to educate the new people against.
Most of the RLSV blogs I've read are humorous commentary on the RLSH, so this post was a nice surprise to read. It's wonderful to hear about someone doing the right thing, just as themselves, not a persona.
ReplyDeleteGood job, man. :)
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