Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Useless Super Powers

Since the beginning (don't ask the beginning of what, it is just the beginning) humans have thought about the super powers they would like to have. Invisibility, super strength, mind-reading, the power to fly, to see the future, all those fantastic amazing super powers. But we regular humans (those of us you have not reached a higher evolutionary state, been mutated by radiation, been bitten by genetically altered spiders, or who do not have mysterious origins linked to another planet) are left to dream about the powers we would like to have.
I have a theory. The Useless Super Power Theory. This theory upholds the belief that everyone is super. This does not mean that 'everyone is special'. No, it is the belief that everyone has a power. These powers do not merit a colorful spandex costume with a mask and will not help the possessor to save the world (or even a small town).
There are certain rules to the powers that fall in to this theory. 1) The person who holds the useless power can not control it. They can not be turned on or off at will. It is just a power that happens (maybe it is in the genetics, embedded into the being). And because they can not control it, they often ignore or do not realize their power. 2) Just because it is called a 'useless' super power, does not mean that the power has to be useless to the power-holder.
Useless super powers I have come in contact with include: the inability to approach a traffic light with out it turning yellow (that one is pretty useless all of the time), to know instinctively when to pick up the phone because they are about to text message before it has arrived (does not mean every time they pick up the phone they have a text message. Not one of those people), the power to make any situation awkward (not one I appreciate most of the time), the power to know when a pizza delivery is occurring in the neighborhood (even if he is not the one ordering pizza), the ability to bash your head against anything without breaking or fracturing the skull (Including a time when he knocked himself out accidentally with an aluminum bat. This is an example of a useful useless super power.), and the ability to shriek at high inhuman pitch (possibly the origin of the Banshee myths. They could have just been girls with a useless super power.)
And finally, after years of searching for my own useless super power, I have found it! My useless super power is the ability to wake up exactly one minute before my alarm goes off. It sucks! You have to understand that I do not wake up at the same time every day. I have five different alarms set on my phone and I use them all weekly, because I have to be up at different times for different classes and activities every day. So this is not a conditional thing that my body has gotten used to over time. It is not like I set my alarm for 6:30 every morning and wake up at 6:29. No, every day is different. But every day, if the alarm is set, I wake up one minute before it goes off. What a stupid useless super power I ended up with! I would rather have that one minute of sleep then to wake up and look to see I have to get up and it is not worth trying to go back to sleep to catch that one minute. The point of setting an alarm is to wake up to it. Not to wake up before it. I set my alarm to go off at the latest moment possible so I can get the most sleep. And I still am losing a minute of it!
But now you say "Well that is good. Doesn't that mean you wake up when you have to even if you don't set the alarm?" Good question, but the answer is no. If i forget to set my alarm I do not still wake up in time. Nope, I sleep past what I was waking up for, often missing it completely. My power only works when the alarm is set.
So yay, I found my useless power. And it doesn't get much more useless than that.
What useless or uncool super power do you have? Give it a good think and post in the comments. Also feel free to write the awesome super power you would like to have or would trade your useless power for.
Useless Powers Unite!

4 comments:

  1. I love this post! Sadly, I have yet to discover my useless power. I think...

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  2. Mine is the ability to find ways to get injured many never thought were possible. I make Bella from twilight look like a graceful swan! Just a few examples: skull fracture while walking up stairs, knocking out my teeth while using a broom, burning my hands after falling in a fire pit while on a run, breaking my wrist and ripping my pants all at the same time while climbing a fence. Black eye while spinning on an office chair. Having to get inner ear surgery to remove a piece of paper I had some how managed to lodge in there really far. Getting a concussion from having a goal dropped on my head. I think this may be the most useless super power ever! (Well maybe not, my doctors sure seem to love it!)

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  3. Dang, when I saw useless powers I was thinking of stuff like, being able to teleport 3 inches to the left, the power to make yourself slippery etc. I guess my power would wind up being getting overexcited too easily...

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  4. Super funny though I still wish I had your super power in one week I totally slept in too late. I didn't miss work but it was close. One morning Allan saved me. Some nights I set the alarm accidently to PM & some mornings I lose count & sleep on after the third & final alarm.
    As far as my own useless super power I'll have to think about that.

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