LZR-1143: Within (11 page)

A Note from the Author

We all wish that we would be the hero. The Antonio, not the Louis, right?

In a time when tragedy strikes or chaos takes over, we all imagine ourselves as standing up for what is right and doing what is necessary. It is a comforting thought, one that makes us snuggle up cozily in our sheets, and keeps us warm and fuzzy in our mental comfort zones. But is that realistic? I would argue that it isn’t.

Throughout history, massive populations of people—millions, not just hundreds—have been cowed into doing what was easy, not what was hard. They have been convinced that their mortality trumps their morality, and that survival beats conscience like rock beats scissors. And are they wrong? They have survived, and in many times and many places, those who stand up for what is right end up dying for it.

Because what is right to do—to be the hero, to sacrifice for others, to be the strongest and the selfless—is not, strictly speaking, a natural impulse. It couldn’t be, or else many of the worst atrocities in history couldn’t have occurred and there would be extortion or sweat shops or genocides. There would be only altruism.

And we all know that ain’t the case.

A friend recently pointed out to me that studies have been done where individuals lay moaning in apparent pain on the ground in high traffic, public places across the world, and out of thousands of people, only a handful stopped to investigate and to ask those people whether they were in trouble. Out of thousands.

I would put to you that this is a face of humanity.

So why go into this tangent? Well, I’m pretty sure that most folks are not going to be fans of Louis. And I get it. I wrote him that way for a reason.

Louis is a real guy. He’s the guy next to you at work, or the woman in the carpool with you. He’s the guy in the drive-through who’s so polite to the woman behind the window, and he’s the man who always gives a little more at church. He is the man or woman who is comfortable in society, and plays by the rules. He is, in reality, all of us. At least in the baser sense. He is our impulses and our primal being.

Now you’re saying to yourself, “Self, I think he just called us a spineless jackal! Are we going to take that?”

Calm down.

I think the real point is that some—not all, and not a majority, but some—of humanity have this hero-gene, or this savior-impulse, or whatever it is that motivates war heroes and our great leaders and our civil rights icons, and any number of others who, backs to the wall, make the hard choices. To sacrifice for others and to be the person who does, not because it is easy, but because it is necessary. Not because it is natural, but because it is important.

Are you that person?

Am I?

We’ll probably never know. I would venture only one in a million people ever get to prove themselves in that way.

But here’s hoping that it stays that way. Because I for one am quite comfortable not knowing.

I hope you enjoyed the story and keep on stayin’ alive.

Bryan