Superpowers for grownups

Today in the U.S., because NYU had no classes either Monday or Tuesday, in honor of Columbus Day, I effectively had a four day weekend. For us, the official “work week” doesn’t really kick in this week until Wednesday.

My students and I have been working intensely on a project, so we were all around this past weekend, getting things done. As noted in my previous post, yesterday was my magic “clean the office” day. Which left today — an entire extra extra day, giving me time to get more things done before everything starts up again tomorrow.

The feeling has been wonderful — a sense of extreme temporal luxury, as though some metaphysical intervention had granted me an extra day.

It occurs to me that a kind of superpower, quite different from the kinds of superpowers in all the Marvel and D.C. comics, would just be the ability to summon an extra day, between today and tomorrow.

I realized this doesn’t sound as flashy as super strength, incredible speed, effortless flight, invisibility, telekinesis, conjuring fire or ice, or any of those other amazing abilities that excite the imagination of your inner twelve year old.

Yet the more you experience of life, the more you realize that there is one fundamental element in the Universe more powerful and terrifying than all the rest — the element of time. So when you think about it, conjuring up that extra day would be a kind of superpower for grownups.

Come to think of it, can anyone think of any other good superpowers for grownups?

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